Divergence
by Jack-El49
Summary: Lois learns their daughter from the future brings an ominous message: something has happened that changed the future Lois learned from Future Clark. They must discover what changed the future and stop it from happening if they can. The sequel to Sanguine.
1. Chapter 1

- _Previously -_

"Beautiful day," she said. "Is that your daughter?"

Lois smiled at the beautiful brunette in sunglasses who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. "Yes."

"She's cute," the young woman said.

"Thank you," Lois replied, staring at the woman. "Do I know you? You look so familiar."

"No; but I grew up here," the woman replied. "I used to play in this park when I was younger but that was ages ago. I don't live in Metropolis anymore."

"Really? What brings you back?" Lois asked, inexplicably intrigued by the woman.

"I came back to attend my father's funeral," she replied solemnly. "It was yesterday," she said and looked out at Clark and Lara.

"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry," Lois replied, embarrassed by her forwardness. "My condolences over your loss," she added.

"Thank you," the woman said.

"Does your mother still live in Metropolis?"

"No," she replied. "She died years before my father passed." The woman paused. "But I have some wonderful memories of her though." She looked at Lois. "She was so much fun and so full of life."

Lois shifted towards the intriguing woman and was about to introduce herself whenClarkcarried Lara over to where they were sitting. The young woman stared atClarkand at Lara, smiling as he approached. "Hello,"Clarksaid and nodded at the woman, handing Lara to Lois. "I think she's had enough," he said. Lara yawned.

"It looks that way," Lois replied. "It's about time for her nap anyway," she added.

"All the fresh air has tired her out," the woman said. "She sure is a pretty little girl."

"Thank you,"Clarkreplied.

Lois stood up and handed Lara back toClarkas she gathered articles and put them in the diaper bag she carried. "Go ahead; I'll catch up," she said. She stared curiously at the young woman. "I'm Lois," she said, thrusting her hand out.

The young woman took it. "I know," she said, gently shaking Lois' hand. "You're a quite famous reporter," she quickly added. She reached up and removed her sunglasses, revealing a striking pair of deep blue eyes. As she did, Lois spotted the unique ring on the finger of her left hand. She had seen the ring before; a rather plain gold ring with a circular emblem containing the letter 'L' within the circle. "I go by Elle," she replied and cocked her head slightly with an arched eyebrow.

The two stared at one another for a moment, each smiling. Finally Lois replied, "Elle; I like that. It's a beautiful name."

"It's in tribute to my mother," Elle replied. She got a far away look in her eyes. "I really miss having her to talk to," she added. "My Dad was really smart and we talked all the time. But Mom's are different." She chewed on her lower lip. "She always seemed to have the right answers but unfortunately she passed away before I knew what all the questions were."

"Look, I have to be going right now but hopefully we can meet again soon when we have more time to talk. Maybe I can help you find the answers you need, Elle."

Elle nodded. "I'd like that very much…Lois. You can count on seeing me again," she added.

"I look forward to it then," Lois said and turned to leave. She took a few steps toward the exit whereClarkwas waiting then looked back to find that Elle had literally vanished.

_And now; **Divergence**_

Lois tossed and turned in bed trying to get comfortable. As much as she would like to have fallen asleep, her mind was filled with thoughts of Elle.

Part of her was thrilled that her daughter from the future had promised to return because she felt the need to talk with her mother. Elle was a stunning beauty but even more obvious was that she seemed humble and kind; full of the virtues and characteristics with which Clark and she would imbue their daughter. She couldn't wait to meet up with Elle again and learn more about her and what questions she could answer. Lois hoped that she could help her daughter with whatever questions had driven her to put on a Legion ring and return to the present.

But another part of her was troubled; something wasn't adding up and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Elle looked no more than twenty-four years old but two years before; Clark from the future had visited her in the delivery room when she was alone. That Clark was 647 years old and he looked twice as old as he did today. Yet Elle would have been no more than 36 years younger than Clark yet looked no older than her mid-twenties. She had not aged.

Elle's appearance also made her remember the future Clark's visit more clearly. Before leaving, he told her that he would like to come back to visit her - that he needed to come back - but it had been two years since giving birth to Lara and she had not seen the future version of Clark since that night.

Since Lois' leap into the future the night Clark fought Doomsday the first time, she had developed a greater understanding of time-travel and the rules that applied to it. The Clark that visited her the night of Lara's birth would now be 649 years old but even a future version of 'old Clark' could have visited her the next day if he had wanted to. He mentioned celebrating his 650th birthday with her but it had been two years and yet, nothing!

She wondered if Clark had died prematurely shortly after she passed away. The pitiful thought of Clark dying of a broken heart over losing her caused her eyes to grow moist. Tears pooled behind her closed eyes and a single one rolled from the corner of her eye and found refuge in the thick black hair just above her right ear. The thought of Clark pining away in depression to the point that he gave up the will to live was heart-wrenching for her. Lois needed to clear that thought from her head.

That scenario, she suddenly realized, did not answer the question of Elle's appearance and why Elle would have said that her mother died many years ago before she had a chance to ask her things. Based on 'old Clark's' visit, Lois had just died in the future at the age of 648. That would have been plenty of time for Lara or Elle to talk to her.

"What's bothering you, Lois?" Clark asked half asleep. He rolled over and put an arm around her, nuzzling the side of her neck.

"Huh? Oh, nothing really Honey," she answered. She felt his warmth and her heart filled with the contentment that being in his arms brought. "I'm just thinking about Lara and the future, I guess."

"What about it?" he murmured.

"I wonder what it will be like for her. Will she have friends and how much of a normal life she'll have."

"She'll be fine, Lois. She'll have us and who knows, maybe a brother or sister some day," he replied softly. "I had friends; she will too. You should quit worrying and get some sleep."

_Maybe she'll have a brother or sister some day._ She cringed. Lois had never told Clark about the events at the Fortress the day they first took Lara there and that she couldn't have any more children. "You're right," she replied, rolled her head to her left, kissed his lips and rolled to her side, facing him. "She'll be fine." She lay like that until she detected Clark's slow, methodical breathing indicating he had drifted off to sleep.

She gently wriggled out of his embrace, rolled quietly out of bed and padded into the next room. She stood in the doorway looking at Lara, sleeping in the tiny bed they had purchased for her. Lois crept to the foot of the bed and looked at their angelic child, swaddled in bed sheets and moonlit. She smiled, turned and headed for the refrigerator.

****** To Be Continued ******


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So Clark, do you have any ideas on that piece Perry assigned you this morning?" Lois asked, sipping her coffee. She seemed less distracted than she had been the entire weekend and even though she had lost some sleep, Lois appeared to be the same energetic force of nature that Clark had always found her to be. "Because if you don't; I have a few ideas." She smiled slyly at him.

Clark exhaled. "I do but none of them involve sneaking in to the mayor's mansion dressed in a costume, Lois." He looked up from his keyboard with a growing grin.

She rocked her head back and forth. "Your loss, Smallville." She stood up and walked around behind her husband, running her fingers across his shoulders, "Because I spotted the absolute perfect French Maid outfit in a novelty store last week." She leaned over and put her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, "I guess I'll just have to find some other reason to buy it." She kissed his cheek, snickered and walked back to her chair.

He loved her playfulness amid everyday routines. Lois had changed him; loosened him up when they were alone. Since discovering his true heritage, Clark had strived to be like every other inhabitant on this planet and in just about every way, he was. His disciplined rearing by Jonathan and Martha Kent had instilled many characteristics and values that made him the person he had become. He was a paragon of virtue in both his superhero role and his daily existence as Clark. Regarded as a sweet-natured, humble and unassuming gentleman by those in the Daily Planet, his demeanor and mild-mannered persona was not far from the man Martha and Jonathan raised him to be.

Lois encouraged him to be the man he always hoped he would become. None of the characteristics that others saw in him was a façade; Clark Kent was indeed a mild-mannered gentleman. What no one else saw was the side that had been cultivated so carefully by Lois. He was amorous, hot-blooded and passionate with her. These traits had been buried deeply since his adolescence in Smallville; traits that seemed contrary to the person his parents had sculpted. Yet, Lois drew them out of him and let him know those hidden traits did not conflict with the characteristics and values his parents taught him. He could be the perfect gentleman and still be a generous and adventurous lover to her. It was the side of being human that he had never experienced with Lana; a side he thought she would never have encouraged him to show. For all the reasons Lois was his soul mate, this was the least obvious but most important: she gave him the gift of unbridled and limitless passion with a mate; mankind's greatest gift.

"Clark…coffee, please," Lois said nonchalantly and placed her mug on the corner of her desk while squinting her eyes to read the online Daily Planet news. Clark dipped his head, pushed his glasses down and warmed her coffee in an instant. When he leaned back in his chair, Lois grabbed the mug and sipped without taking her eyes off the screen. "Perfect! Thank you, Honey." She sat silently for a moment and then declared, "What the hell?"

"What?"

"There was a Monster Truck show in Granite City last weekend," Lois complained.

"Uh-huh," he replied, keeping his head down.

"Did you know about it?"

"Yep."

"Clark, why didn't you say something? You know that I love…"

He looked up to meet her eyes. "Lois, I've been so busy these past few weekends and I've felt so absent from Lara's life because of it. I just wanted to spend some time with the two of you like a normal family."

"But, it was…," Lois began and then stopped. What he had said was important: 'normal family'. He wanted Lara to experience what a normal family was like and he was right. His upbringing showed him how to function in a normal family environment and Lara needed to experience that so she could function normally in her daily life growing up. She bit her lower lip. "Okay Clark, you get a pass on this one," she allowed. "But normal families have date nights, too," Lois admonished, "and I'm not talking about some quickie getaway to a frozen palace in the barren hinterlands," she added with an arched eyebrow.

"As it happens," he replied, "there's another one in the Metropolis Sport Arena at the end of next month." He pulled open his drawer and drew out two tickets. "Kara has already agreed to babysit."

She beamed. "Well played, Flannel Man! Have I told you that I love you lately?"

"Last night you did," Clark replied, "but not lately," he added. He rose from his desk. "I'm going to head over to the mayor's office and see if I can find something that may give me a foot in the door. You want to meet me for lunch at the Metro Diner?"

"Okay," Lois replied brightly. "I have to finish up on this story anyway; it's been sitting in my 'Send Folder' for too long."

"Good! I'll see you around noon," Clark replied as he left their office.

Lois worked for another few hours putting the final touches on her piece about the economic summit that President Lex Luthor had called. When she looked up at the clock, it showed 11:49 AM. _Perfect, _she thought and grabbed her purse and headed for the door. She stepped in to the elevator and when she got to the lobby, she headed for the large brass revolving door but stopped when she noticed a small crowd gathering around a video panel in the lobby. She made a beeline to the crowd and saw images and a report of a massive earthquake that had hit Japan, creating a small disaster but spawning a tsunami that was headed toward the South Pacific islands. She watched for a moment until she saw the word 'Superman' appear on the crawler below and caught a glimpse of Clark streaking toward a Tokyo high rise complex in danger of collapsing and in which people were trapped.

_There goes our lunch date,_ she thought and headed out for the Metro café. The street was bustling as people hurried to grab lunch to beat the crowd at their favorite lunchtime eating establishment. As she headed for the Metro Diner, she noticed a young woman sitting at an outdoor café table at a higher-priced bistro that was situated on the corner between the Metro Diner and the Daily Planet building. As she approached, she instantly recognized Elle as the young woman. "Elle?" she said, surprised to find her there.

"Hello Lois," Elle replied brightly and stood, smiling.

Lois was flummoxed. "I…wow; I was planning to go to the park this weekend, hoping to find you there. How…how did you know where I'd be?"

"Lucky guess?" Elle said unconvincingly. She smiled slyly.

Lois noticed two Styrofoam containers on the café table where Elle was seated. She quickly glanced around. "Oh; are you here with someone?"

"No," Elle replied quickly. "These are sandwiches and chips from inside. I ordered them hoping to see you. I thought if I did, we might have a chance to talk." She paused and a worried look crossed her face. "I hope that's okay."

"Of course it's okay," Lois replied. "Thank you," she added and began to sit.

"Oh, wait. Do you mind if we took these and went over to the park?" Elle asked. She looked around briefly and added, "It's kind of busy here."

"Even better," Lois replied and they each took their container and hurried up a side street that led to the Metropolis Grand Park. "I just finished up a story and sent it to the Editor before I left so I have a little time; there's no rush right now."

They slowed their gait and made it to the park in ten minutes. The day was beautiful; clear blue skies with only an occasional wisp of cloud and trees beginning to explode with bright green foliage. The warmth of the sun negated the need for a coat and the two women found a bench in a quiet corner of the large city park. Lois opened her container and found a thick roast beef sandwich, dill pickle spear and potato chips. "My favorite," she exclaimed.

"Hmm," Elle replied coyly. She opened her container and pulled the exact same sandwich from it, holding it up for Lois' inspection. As she did, Lois once again noticed the Legion ring on her finger. "I guess we share the same tastes in sandwiches," she declared. She bit in to her sandwich and slowly chewed.

Lois had already taken two bites of her sandwich and one bite of pickle. After swallowing, she began the conversation. "Elle," she started, "I've been doing a lot of thinking since our last meeting." She paused, wondering how to broach the subject of what she suspected and a thought came to her. "I noticed your ring," she began. "It's very unique and I've seen only one like it once before. In fact," Lois added, "I had one just like it for a short time before I gave it to my husband."

"I got it from my father. He gave it to me just before he died. And you know what it is?" Elle asked solemnly.

"I do, Elle." Lois peered into Elle's deep blue eyes and then leaned a little closer. "So I think it's safe to drop the pretenses; don't you?"

Elle smiled sheepishly. "I think so," she replied. "I didn't mean to be…"

"You weren't," Lois interrupted. She reached out and placed her hand on the young woman's forearm. "I understand…Lara."

Eyes glistening, she struggled to speak, "You're…just as I remember you," she managed. Her breaths came in short gulps and she stood. "Mom."

Lois leapt to her feet and pulled her daughter to her. "Sweetheart," she said as Lara buried her face in her mother's shoulder and cried. "It's okay; I'm here now." She comforted Lara and the rest of the world disappeared around except for the stifled sobs and warmth of the beautiful but fragile woman she embraced. "You'll be fine now, Lara. Just relax, Sweetie." She kissed her head and a rush of emotions coursed through her; memories of lost moments with her own mother and the comforting feel of the embrace Ella Lane once provided.

After a while, Lara recovered her composure and loosened her embrace. Lois mirrored the action and the young woman stepped back. She wiped her eyes and smiled. "Mom, I've missed you so much," she finally said. She sniffed and added, "I've been thinking about you so often lately now that father has left."

Lois reached out and wiped away a tear from her daughter's cheek. "You said your father died?" She pulled her back to the bench. "The things you've said, Lara; they've left me really confused." She leaned forward. "I know your father won't die for a very, very long time," she said softly.

"He didn't die, really," Lara admitted. Her eyes, still moist from tears filled with a new type of sadness. "He left. For years he was so full of sadness and ended up so disillusioned with humanity that he couldn't bear to remain on Earth. He was alive but admitted to me before he left that he felt dead inside. So it was his idea to stage his death and a public funeral so that people would have to depend on themselves for their own protection." She twisted the ring on her finger. "Then he gave me the ring, told me how it worked and said that if I needed guidance, I should come back and talk to you."

"Me? Why not Jor-El?"

"Father destroyed the Fortress before he left. He told me he did it so that it would never be discovered and so that Jor-El wouldn't impose the same fate on me that he had imposed on him." She had regained full composure and reached for her sandwich.

There were a thousand questions that sprung up in Lois' mind but she held them at bay. Lara had returned for _**her**_ guidance. "So do you really go by Elle or was that just something you told me? It's such a beautiful name."

"I do use that name to keep my identity safe," she replied.

"Like father; like daughter," Lois quipped. "So would you feel more comfortable if I continued to call you Elle?"

She nodded. "Well, as long as you don't mind, I think it would keep things less confusing." She took a bite of her pickle and Lois resumed eating her sandwich. "I mean, I think it would probably be better if father didn't know I was here…I mean, my father today," she said and rolled her eyes.

"So are you planning to stay here a while?"

"Um, I hadn't planned to stay very long but now that I'm here…with you," she looked around at the peaceful park and then back at Lois, "it's hard to think of going back right away, you know?"

"Good," Lois said quickly. "I was hoping you weren't going to disappear again. I need to…uh…I mean I want to be able help you with whatever is troubling you." She paused. "Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Not really," she replied. "I thought I'd just go 'home' whenever we were done and just arrange to meet when you thought it would be safe to meet."

"Well how did you know it would be safe to meet now?" Lois asked.

"The earthquake in Japan," Elle replied. "It's an event that was recorded in history that I knew father was involved with it for a while." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Of course!" Lois snorted. "Hey, you didn't happen to memorize the Kansas state lottery numbers picked for tomorrow, did you?" she asked, smirking. Elle frowned. "I'm kidding," Lois reassured. "Besides, if I won the lottery, Lucy would suddenly appear and that's something I don't need right now."

"Aunt Lucy?"

"Yeah."

"I think I've only met her twice and that was when you were…alive," Elle replied, trailing off.

"Well," Lois began, "I have a cousin you can stay with. She lives nearby and she knows your father's secret. I can talk to her if you'd like, she's…"

"No, Mom," Elle replied. "I have plenty of money; I can find a place to rent for a while." She paused, struggling to say something and she realized that Lois detected it. "But Mom, if I stay you know that I can't say much about the future and I definitely can't tell you anything specific, right? I mean, father was insistent on that before he gave me the ring. He said that it could have catastrophic consequences if I revealed something that changed the future. I mean, I know he struggled with returning to see you after you passed away but he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't even change the events that caused your passing." She grew quiet for a moment and then continued. "So, I can't say too much about the future; okay?"

"Of course, Sweetheart. I certainly understand that." She chewed her lower lip. "So what is it that you think I can help you with?"

Elle looked down and plucked the remainder of the pickle spear from her Styrofoam container, took a bite and then looked up. "I've met someone; it's someone special and I need your advice."

Lois was again filled with emotion. Before her sat the Lara more than twenty years from now asking her mother-daughter questions. Memories of her years before she knew Clark's secret rushed in to her mind. Those memories included the fear she felt at the time over revealing her feelings for him. The moment she realized that she was falling in love with Clark and the conflicts in wishing that he could be the Red and Blue Blur came roaring back to Lois with such intensity that she felt momentarily overwhelmed. She steadied her thoughts and emotions and then said, "Wow! That's great, I guess. Tell me a little about him and what you I might be able to help you with."

"I'm falling in love with a guy," she began. "He's a great guy. In many ways, he's like father…the Clark figure. He's from pretty humble origins, is a gentleman, and he manages the IT function for Wayne Enterprises. You'd like him, Mom. He's warm, personable, really good-looking and just an all-round nice guy."

"He sounds great, Lara, er…Elle. I wish I could meet him but I guess he's about 3 or 4 years old right now." Lois grinned. "So what is it you need advice about? It's not…um, you know…physical relations, is it?" She winced.

"Well, kind of, Mom. It's more along the lines of a long term relationship I'm stumped about though. Obviously, the physical stuff is part of that."

Lois shifted uneasily on the park bench as she swallowed the last bite of her sandwich. "What is it exactly, Elle?"

"It's the fear of how he'll react when he finds out my true identity. I mean, he knows father and has heard stories about you but he doesn't know who father really is." She leaned forward and spoke in a hushed tone. "He doesn't know about my abilities, Mom. What happens if I tell him and he won't accept me because of my heritage."

"Then he's not worth having, Sweetheart. If he's really like your father, he'll accept you for who you are, not what you are."

"But with father gone," she replied, "I'm going to have to pick up where he left off. The world is not a good place despite his efforts, Mom." Lois winced. "Even if he does accept me, how is he going to accept that I'm gone so often? What kind of wife could I be to him if I'm always rushing off without a reason?" Elle began to feel her eyes moisten. "Is it even right to ask that of someone you love?"

"Oh Sweetie," Lois began, "if he loves you for who you are, he'll love you for all that you are. If he's the man that you think he is, he'll support you; not try to tie you down. You just have to work hard at being a team and understanding each other's needs. With the amount of time between you never being certain, you have to make the time you have count." She paused and began to smile. "When your father and I began dating and I didn't know his secret, he used to disappear or not show up. He used the lamest excuses for leaving or I would turn my back and he vanished. I was confused and I'd be mad as hell until I saw him again." She snorted. "I thought he was afraid of intimacy or commitment. But then I'd see him and it reminded me of why I loved him. And then when I learned his secret, I loved him even more than before." She paused. "Does this man of yours know your secret, Elle?"

She shook her head. "I haven't told him yet. I'm afraid of how he'll react if he knows who I am and who my father is." Elle smiled sadly. "Think of what it would be like to tell someone your father is Superman."

Lois snickered. "I thought the General was bad enough!"

"Grandpa Lane? Oh, he's…well, I could see where he'd be intimidating back in the day but now he's just an old softy," Elle admitted.

"So he's still alive?"

She nodded and didn't say anything more.

The two talked for over an hour and barely scratched the surface of things that Elle had wanted to talk about. Finally, Lois said she had to get back to work and Elle nodded. "When will I see you again?" Lois asked.

"Tomorrow about 9 PM," she responded. "I'll come to the apartment…like father always does," she added with a wink. "We'll have quite a bit of time to talk then."

The women walked back to the outdoor café where they met up and exchanged a warm hug. "So tomorrow night," Lois recapped. "I'll have dinner waiting for you." They stared at one another for more than a moment and then Elle turned to leave. "Elle," her mother called and the lovely woman turned back around. "I'm curious; how old are you right now?" Elle frowned slightly. "I mean, how old are you _really_?"

She paused, chewed on her lower lip as she pondered the implications of answering. Elle shrugged a bit and replied, "Twenty-three years old."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Clark returned home late and exhausted. Lois had watched the live reports from the other side of the globe of the devastation the earthquake had caused. After thirteen years of being with him, she still marveled at his abilities. It seemed that there was nothing he couldn't accomplish.

The tsunami was less a problem as Superman flew deep into the South Pacific and countered the massive waves by generating opposing waves that neutralized and the tsunami's impact. After stopping the potentially deadly swell, he returned to Japan to help with ruptured utilities and rescues that had yet to be performed.

He woke Lois coming in. "Clark?" she asked sleepily.

"Hi, honey," he replied, sounding spent.

"Busy day, huh?"

"Yes. I think they're going to be fine though," he replied as he headed for the bedroom. "Did you have a taxi take Mom home?"

"No; I drove her myself."

"Thanks, Lo; I would have you know." He stopped at the door. "I'm beat. I need to get cleaned up and just go to bed," he added as he disappeared into the darkened room. An instant later, the shower was running.

Lois snapped the television off and headed into the bedroom. She called from the bathroom door, "Do you want something to eat?"

"No. I had Japanese for dinner," he retorted.

"We had Mom's lasagna." She brushed her teeth, slipped off her pajamas and proceeded to join Clark in the steamy shower. He turned and enveloped her, pulling her into his massive frame. "Just go to bed?" She kissed him passionately and he held her close, taking in smell of her freshly-washed hair mixed with the aroma of the fresh soap. The hot water poured over his shoulders and down over her own. The tactile sensation of their flesh pressed together combined with the fragrant steam was therapeutic for both of them. "We need to be quiet," Lois whispered. "There's a sleeping child with super hearing in the next room."

"You're the noisy one," he replied and pulled her back into a deep, passionate kiss.

The following morning, Lois awakened to the smell of fresh coffee wafting in from the kitchen. She loved to wake up to that smell. Since living together, one of the simple joys of a workweek morning was awaking to the fragrant aroma of fresh coffee that Clark would make for her. She lay there for a moment, thinking about the wonderful years she had spent with him. He doted on Lara but never at her expense. He was 'super' in so many ways that she had never imagined and that others would never know. And while there had been times that they had strenuously disagreed and times that she wished she didn't have to share him with the world, laying in bed at that moment she knew she could never have wished for a better husband and father to her child than Clark had been. His duty may be to the world but his focus was always solidly on Lara and her.

Her thoughts turned to Elle. Twenty-three years old, she had said. Lara had just turned two so Elle was Lara about twenty-one years from now. Elle said that she had lost her mother many years before when they first met in the park. _How many years before_, Lois wondered. That thought was the most troubling. _So twenty-one years from now_, she thought, _I will have been dead for many years_. She wondered if she should say something to Clark. _Would he keep something like this from me?_ She paused. _Probably so_, she concluded. _And if I did say something, he wouldn't let me out of his sight._ Lois remembered how protective he had been of her when the Vigilante Registration Act was being implemented about fourteen years ago. That level of protection would be nothing compared to the way he'd react if he knew he could lose her soon.

Clark appeared at the door with two steaming mugs of fresh coffee. He frowned. "You're still in bed?"

"I got squeaky clean last night," she replied with a slightly lascivious grin. "I have a few extra minutes this morning." He smiled, sat the coffee down on the nightstand beside her and she sat up and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, Honey."

"I'll go get Mom," he said.

"I'll be ready by the time you get back," she replied.

"You wanna bet?"

"You need to take it easy on Mom. She's still pretty spry but those high-speed trips can't be good for her." She slipped out from between the sheets and grabbed a robe. "I'm surprised she still agrees to them."

"She'd put up with anything to babysit for her granddaughter every day. Once Lara is a little bit older and understands the world a little better, I'll take her to Mom's." He paused, and then added, "Besides, Mom will probably outlive both of us."

Lois gave him an odd smile. "Okay, you go get her," she said. "I'll get dressed."

She headed for the closet and by the time Clark returned with Martha, Lois was applying the finishing touches of makeup. Clark re-emerged in the bedroom. "I told you I would be dressed by the time you got back," she boasted.

"That's because Mom insisted that I eat breakfast," he replied with a raised eyebrow. Martha's voice could be heard coming from Lara's room as she woke the little girl. "I don't know what we'd do without her. I'm not sure that any babysitter would know how to deal with Lara! I guess we could always count on Chloe in a pinch but she has her own hands full."

Lois and Clark gave Martha a kiss on the way out the door as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "You two have a good day," she bid them as they disappeared from the doorway.

They arrived at the Daily Planet to see a small crowd assembled around the large flat panel monitor that hung in the lobby of the building. The day before, Lois had watched events unfold in Japan with glimpses of Clark swooshing by. Today the crowd was watching a new story unfold. President Lex Luthor was giving a press conference about the untimely death of Supreme Court Justice William Hough. Like many Presidents before him, Lex praised the high court justice as though the public rancor between the two powerful men had somehow escaped the notice of the American public. Acknowledging that they had disagreed on some issues, Lex reiterated his profound respect and proclaimed a deep personal friendship with the 64-year old judge that transcended their public differences.

"Bullshit!" Lois muttered.

"Lois!" Clark admonished. "He's our President; elected by a majority of Americans and…"

"Save it Smallville," she interrupted and leaned closer. "I know what you think of him."

Clark looked around nervously. "We're journalists, Lois; we're supposed to be objective."

"You're right," she replied. "But that doesn't mean we can't have an opinion." She paused. "Have they said how he died?"

"Apparently he died in his sleep; it says natural causes."

"Great," she said sarcastically. "That means there's going to be a second Lex Luthor Supreme Court justice! Before you know it, they'll be repealing the right of women to vote." She shook her head. "If only Hough could have held on for another year or so, maybe our next President wouldn't be so slimy and his appointments to the court wouldn't be so twisted."

"Well," Clark replied as they moved away from the crowd and headed for the elevator, "there are seven other justices and only one of them seems to lean toward favoring Lex's ideas of government. We should be fine as long as the court is split the way it is."

"That, and the fact he's only running for one term," Lois added. "Don't you find that kind of strange?" They stepped into the elevator and headed up to their office. "The last President who only wanted one term was Johnson back in the 1960's. Do you think Lex is up to something?"

"He's always up to something," Clark replied. They arrived at their floor and stepped out of the elevator and went to their office. "The thing with Lex is you don't always see it coming."

Lois snapped on her computer monitor. "He would win re-election if he ran. I don't buy the 'personal reasons' excuse he's given. Either he's on the verge of being caught for something or he's planning something." The Daily Planet webpage appeared with the lead story being Justice Hough's untimely death.

The rest of the day was uneventful and the two of them caught up on assignments; Clark had left for an hour to get to City Hall to try to pick up a way to get in to see the mayor. Lois had begun trying her hand at editorials and used the slow news day to work on a couple that she would eventually pitch to Perry.

They headed home and once they arrived, Clark headed off with Martha. Lois took the opportunity to begin jotting down some inconsistencies between what she knew and what she was learning from Elle in an effort to make sense of it. She eventually settled on the theory that in the future from which Elle had traveled, Clark would eventually return to Earth. Using the Legion Ring, he would intervene in whatever event caused her death and she would live the long life that 'old Clark' had assured her of. But that would not occur until later in Elle's future.

The thought was oddly reassuring and maddening at the same time. Clark had saved her countless times in the past and would save her countless times in the future. In one instance he wasn't able to save her and because of that, it caused him to give up his faith in humanity and eventually leave Earth with Elle to take on his burden. Was she capable of carrying that burden; did she even want that burden?

Although the theory seemed to make sense, the thought of Clark leaving Elle alone at twenty-three years old was hard to accept. The gentle, doting father and eternal optimist she saw everyday was a stark contrast to the image of a broken and disillusioned man that would leave his only flesh and blood to fend for herself. She wondered if it was only her death that provoked such despair or there was something else. The mental image brought tears to her eyes.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone ringing; it was Clark. "I'm going to be just a little later, Lois. There are some repairs I need to make here before I come back. If you're hungry, go ahead and start dinner. I'll be home as soon as I'm finished."

"Okay. I'll feed Lara and put her in the bath. Hurry home," she added and ended the conversation. She followed through with her routine of feeding Lara, bathing her and then laying her down for the night. Martha always wore their little girl out which made her sleep soundly.

Lois began preparing dinner for the two of them. Martha had seasoned a small roast that only needed about an hour in the oven. If Clark was extra hungry when he got home, he could accelerate that cooking time. Usually, Lois was the hungry one after work but tonight she had no appetite. Elle was coming which meant Clark would be elsewhere doing something major. She flipped on the television news and let it play in the background as she tended to Lara.

It was just after 7:40 when she laid Lara down. She kissed her little girl, tucked her in, stepped to the door and paused. She looked at her daughter thinking how surreal tonight would be. Two year-old Lara would be asleep in this room and in the next room, twenty-three year-old Lara would be talking with her. She absently shook her head, closed the door and went to the kitchen. Lois checked on the roast and poured herself a glass of red wine. She sat on the couch; legs folded beneath her, sipped her wine and watched the news waiting to learn of the event that would demand Clark's intervention.

He arrived within ten minutes and Lois jumped up from the couch. She wanted him to eat knowing that if delayed, he would not have a meal for a while. She pulled the roast out, along with the two potatoes she had put in with the meat. From the freezer she retrieved a steam-in bag of mixed frozen vegetables and set it on the stovetop. "Clark; can you give them a shot," she asked and Clark heated them in under 10 seconds.

"I want to change; I'll be right back," he said and was back in less time than it took to heat the frozen vegetables.

"Hungry?"

"Yep," he replied as he dug in to his food. Lois had poured him a glass of wine and he sipped it in between swallows. She took a mouthful of roast beef and chewed it slowly, trying not to reveal her lack of appetite.

"So what needed repairs tonight?"

As Clark began to answer, a news bulletin interrupted that chronicled a bomb blast that had damaged the Aswan dam in Egypt. Weakened, it had begun to fail and threatened millions with life-threatened flooding. Clark watched the news report, looked back at Lois, inhaled the remainder of his dinner and stood. "I'll be home as soon as I can." He bent down, kissed her, and blurred out to the terrace and streaked off into the dark Metropolis night.

Lois never lost the thrill of watching him respond. Even though she had gotten used to seeing it, the thrill of him racing to an event like that never got old. She smiled, got up and retrieved his 'civilian clothes' that were strewn in a line that led from the table to the French doors that opened onto the terrace. She put Clark's plate and utensils in the kitchen sink and quickly washed them. She rinsed out Clark's wine glass, dried it. After that, she returned to the table and waited for Elle to arrive. She didn't have to wait long; a figure appeared on the terrace and walked to the open French doors. "May I come in?" Elle asked.

"Of course; you live here," Lois replied with a slight grin.

"I guess I do," she replied as she stepped inside. Elle looked around and smiled. "This brings back so many memories."

Lois rose and gave Elle a hug. "Have you eaten; are you hungry?"

"I'd love something to eat."

Lois led her to the kitchen. "Help yourself," she said and Elle grabbed the plate Lois had just washed and began filling it. "Do you drink wine?" Elle nodded and Lois poured her a glass. She led her to the dining table and they sat.

Elle chattered a bit nervously between bites. Reestablishing their connection was not difficult but it was awkward. In appearance, Elle bore a striking resemblance to her mother and Lois looked no more than 7 or 8 years older than Elle. Besides the physical similarities, Elle displayed certain idiosyncrasies that would lead any casual observer to believe they were sisters.

They spoke for more than an hour about everything other than what Lois wanted to know from Elle. Mostly, Elle continued along the line of relationship information. But, occasionally the conversation would veer off into Lois' past and growing up on military bases with Lucy and her father. She spoke briefly of Ella. She spoke of Chloe and how Chloe's presumed death brought her to Smallville. Elle laughed at Lois recounting her first encounter with Clark and listened intently when Lois spoke of Jonathan and Martha. She told her how maddening times were that she spent with Clark before she learned his secret and how she eventually discovered it. Some stories were hilarious, some poignant but mostly Lois used them to gauge what Elle knew. By gauging what she knew, Lois believed she could deduce at what age the young woman lost her mother.

Elle was careful not to reveal anything specific about the future beyond what she had already revealed. After the chatter began to drag, Lois asked, "So how long will we have tonight?"

"Quite a while," she replied, looking at the clock in the kitchen, "At least a few more hours."

"There are some things that I…," Lois began but Elle cut her off.

"I know what you want to know, Mom but…I can't tell you. You know that I can't because…there's no telling what would happen if I did." She rose. "I'm sorry but I think I should…"

Lois stood. "It's not what I want to know," she interjected. "It's what I need to tell you." She fixed Elle in place with her stare. "I need to tell you about the future or the future as I know it."

Elle frowned and cocked her head. "You need to tell me about the future?"

"Yes, Lara. It's a future you need to know about." Elle relaxed and then sat; Lois followed suit. "I don't know where to begin but the night you were born your father took our family doctor to the fortress."

"Doctor Hamilton?"

"Yes. He knew your father's secret for about twelve years before you were born. Your father took him to the fortress because he knew you would be different from any child born. You were part human, part Kryptonian and Dr. Hamilton needed information from Jor-El about Kryptonian births so he could deliver you." She paused. "While they were gone, I was so scared, Lara. I was all alone because I could not go to a hospital because of your heritage and your father's secret. While I was there alone, your father came but it wasn't your father from 2 years ago, it was your father from 645 years from now. He used the Legion Ring to be at my side to keep me company because he knew I was so very scared. I didn't know what was happening to me and I thought you were dying. While we waited for Dr. Hamilton and your father to return from the fortress, he told me about you in the future. He told me how you two worked together to continue saving people but that the world was a beautiful place; peaceful, productive and serene."

Elle's eyes brightened. "So father comes back?"

Lois shifted in her chair. "I don't know, Honey; something has changed." Her mouth went dry and she took a sip of her wine. "Elle, the reason your father came back from that point in time was because he was suffering. He told me that I had just died the week before." Elle's face showed her confusion. "It was a different timeline, Elle. Something has happened to change that future to the one you are from."

Her brow furrowed. "Do you have idea what has changed?"

Lois shook her head. "Anything could have changed. I could have turned left when I should have turned right. I have no idea what I did that changed the future that the old Clark Kent told me about. But in that future, I lived to be 648."

"So in that future, you weren't…" she paused and then said, "…you didn't die at an early age?"

"I lived longer because of the influence of your father's Kryptonian DNA." She smiled. "I could tell you about it but I'd probably end up confusing both of us. Emil could explain it better but in short, your father's DNA mutated my DNA giving me certain Kryptonian attributes; not Kryptonian abilities though…obviously!"

Elle nodded and stared blankly at the empty glass of wine in front of her. She looked up suddenly. "Maybe whatever changed hasn't happened yet."

"Maybe," Lois replied. "Maybe it won't happen until moments before I die in the future." She paused. "If it happened in the past…" she began and then trailed off.

"It's probably too late," Elle finished. The conflicted look on her face told Lois what her daughter was thinking.

"If it happened in the past, Elle; it's already happened and I know you can't change it." Lois poured herself another glass of wine and reached over and refilled Elle's glass. "Your father told me about changing the past; he blamed himself for 5 years because he saved his old girlfriend's life by changing the past and it caused the death of his father. He told me that Jor-El said the universe must balance itself and by changing the past to save one life would cause another life to perish."

She nodded. "He told me that many times, Mom; when I asked him why he didn't go back and save you." She looked up and a tear streaked down her cheek.

"And he's right, Elle. Your Aunt Chloe begged him to go back and save the life of her ex-husband and I know your father loved your Aunt Chloe and loved her ex-husband; he was a very close friend to both of us. But he wouldn't do it because he knew what the consequences would be if he did; someone else would pay the price with their life. It could be a complete stranger on the other side of the world or it could be someone he loved…maybe your Grandma Martha, your Aunt Kara or maybe even you."

Elle fought back her tears thinking of the times she begged her father to go back in time and save her mother. She nodded absently and refocused on the issue at hand. "But as you say, if you turn right instead of left you might end up alive and live until you die of old age."

"Extremely old age," Lois added with a half-smile.

"But if it's something that has already happened..." Elle began.

"…It can't be changed," Lois finished.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Baltimore, Maryland

April 26, 2021

Lana Lang-Ross carefully carried a cup of hot herbal tea as she walked across the plush carpet outside of Vice President Pete Ross' office. The administrative staff had left for the evening and the only sound coming from the Naval Observatory's executive suite was the sound of a Monday Night NFL game and the voice of her husband in muted conversation. Lana entered from the private entrance to his office to find Pete absently watching the game while talking on the phone. Back to the door, he wasn't aware that Lana had entered the room. She sat on a formal couch waiting for him to conclude his conversation.

"Yes; I can't see how that wouldn't work," he said. "Everyone's fed up with them. The public would welcome it because everyone knows they're sucking the life-blood out of this country." He paused listening to the other party. "I have no reservations at all, Lex. I'll continue to push them and push them hard," he said. A commercial interrupted the game and Pete shifted in his chair and turned back toward his desk. He spotted Lana and the look on his face said he wondered how much she had heard. "Okay, Mr. President; I'll talk to you more about this tomorrow." He smiled. "Lana just came in and I think she needs to ask me something." He paused, listening. "Right; I'll work on it tonight. Yes…good night, Mr. President." He hung up. "I didn't hear you come in," he said.

"I just came in to see what you were up to," Lana replied. "Dinner has been ready for about thirty minutes and the kitchen staff is probably anxious to serve it and go home." She smiled demurely.

"Of course; you're right," Pete replied. "I shouldn't keep them waiting." He fumbled to explain his conversation. "Lex just wanted to go over some foreign policy issues with me to use in the campaign."

Something didn't ring true with Pete's statement and Lana knew it; Pete suspected she knew it, too. Rather than challenging it though, she sipped her tea, nodded her head and stood. "Shall we go eat?"

Pete stood, "Yeah; I'm hungry."

Lana and Pete had married five years earlier. In his final year at Kansas State, Pete served as an aide to a US Representative from Kansas. After he graduated, he served as a foreign policy advisor to the same Congressman for two more years, before running for and winning that same representative's seat. He served two full terms in the House of Representatives where he distinguished himself by drafting numerous pieces of legislation to protect American businesses and industries from unfair foreign competition. In between his first and second term, he proposed to Lana and she accepted. They married quickly in a small, private ceremony several days after he was elected for his second term.

Pete's prowess came in finding just the right tone in speeches and debates on the floor of the US House of Representatives to be viewed as a champion of American exceptionalism without being categorized as a Conservative. He was considered one of the fast-rising stars in the party and caught the eye of Lex Luthor during his Presidential campaign. In lieu of running for a third term in the House, Pete accepted Lex's offer to be his running mate and was sworn in as Vice President nine months later.

Lana loved Pete; the Pete she married that is. They had grown up together and both closely guarded a monumental secret. But once Lex Luthor came into their lives, it soon became the only thing they shared. Lex's influence changed Pete and the secret he kept was one of the few things Lana found noble about him any longer. He was no longer the hard-working servant of the people; he was Lex's servant. Pete had been seduced by Lex's power and the fruits that power bore. Though Lex Luthor was admired by most Americans, it was only because few truly knew the real Lex. Those who had the potential to expose the real Lex Luthor remained alive only for as long as they kept silent and loyally served him.

As Pete became ensnarled in Lex's plots, he became more like Lex; growing ruthless and power-hungry. The change in Pete was one thing that strained their marriage. The other thing that strained their marriage was Lana's love for Clark. Hard as she tried to conceal it, there was no hiding the admiration and adoration she had for Clark. And it was Clark, not Superman that Lana loved. In their relationship, Pete's former best friend was the 800-pound gorilla in the room. At times he struggled to keep the secret that his former best friend had shared with him. It was only the last vestiges of honor left in Pete that had kept him from spilling the beans on Superman's true identity.

They dined alone in the private dining room on a meal of medallions of roasted pork with herb potatoes, asparagus with Béarnaise sauce and white wine. They exchanged only a few words before Pete opened the conversation. "Superman did a great job on the Aswan Dam disaster, don't you think?"

She nodded and sipped at her wine. "He did," she replied as carefully as possible to resist the urge to fawn over Clark. "He always does though. You should know, Pete; he used to be your closest friend," she said quietly.

"I like to think that he still is a close friend, Lana," Pete said coldly. "I consider him one." He speared a potato with his fork. "I'm not sure that he feels the same way though," he concluded before popping the seasoned cube in his mouth.

"Pete, you know he does." She picked up her wine glass. "Things are more complicated now than when we were all friends in school growing up." She took a sip and set it down. "Time has a way of separating friends these days."

"He never visits."

"He's never asked to visit. Pete, you're the Vice President of the United States. Even Superman respects protocols; he's not going to just fly in for a pickup game of basketball."

"Protocol? Is that the reason you think we never see him?"

She shrugged. "We know the relationship he has with Lex. It's the same relationship you had with Lex when we were in high school." She paused and then added, "The difference is that he hasn't changed his views."

Pete smiled coolly. "So the reason is me?" he asked rhetorically. "I've become all that I once disdained?" He swallowed a gulp of wine. "Is that what it is or is it that I have grown up and see the world as it is; not as I'd like it to be? Because the truth is, Dear, I have to face the world as it is because that is what I have to deal with. I'd love to have the ultimate power to change the world but the simple truth is that no one does; not even Superman. If he did, there wouldn't be the suffering, the poverty and the hate in the world today. I'd love to be able to step in and change everything that's wrong with the world today but I don't have the luxury of being immune to bullets, bombs or public opinion. I have to deal with those problems with the means I have which, frankly, are far more limited than the means Superman has. I only have words and the military."

Her eyes narrowed. "Pete; you know as well as I do that we reap what we sow. It's not his job to change people through ultimate power; he tries by setting an example for the rest of us. It's what our leaders…you…should be doing too." Her eyes grew watery and she lowered her voice to a mere whisper. "Your words used to reflect the same values that Superman models and your words touched people and made a difference. You used to be that person, Pete. You used to know that there are good people, there are evil people and there are those caught in between. You used to be one of those good people but now," she hesitated, "you're one of those that are caught in between and I'm afraid the more you succumb to Lex's ways, the more you risk falling into that last category of people."

Pete's jaws tightened. "I'm sorry I'm not the perfect being that you love but…"

"I didn't marry you because I thought you were perfect Pete," she interrupted. "I married you because you were perfect for me." She lowered her head. "I love you. But I miss the Pete that I married. I wish you'd find him and send him my way because that Pete was amazing. That Pete could inspire those who were caught in between and would make a difference the way that Superman is trying to. That Pete was an inspiration to others and people will listen to that kind of leader. That Pete would have invited his oldest friend over for a game of pickup basketball. That Pete would align himself with Superman rather than with Lex Luthor."

He said nothing. He loved Lana and realized at that moment what had been troubling her. He had always believed himself to be the consolation prize; that Clark was the 'one who got away' and he was the closest thing to having the power that Clark did. But at that moment, he realized that the growing friction between them had less to do with red boots and a cape than with the changes that had occurred in him. Pete stared at his dinner plate reflecting upon the words he heard. Finally he looked up and met Lana's gaze. "I'll try to find that Pete, Lana; I mean it."

Metropolis

April 29, 2021

It had been several days since Lois had seen Elle and wondered what her daughter from the future was up to. Perhaps her absence had to do with Clark not being gone very long over the last week. She also wondered if she had seen the last of Elle. That thought was met with conflicted emotions. She had her draft editorial loaded on the screen before her but she wasn't even interested in completing it. It was camouflage; digital white noise to hide the fact that she was distracted by something other than the challenges of writing editorials.

She had tried hard to hide her distraction from Clark. If he knew, she thought, he would begin worrying and overanalyzing everything that she did. She couldn't live like that and as much as the thought of dying so young bothered her, the idea of living under Clark's protective wing for the rest of her life was even more disturbing. The whole thing seemed surreal; she met her daughter from the future, she learned that she would die young, and Clark would leave humans and his daughter to fend for themselves. What she still didn't know and probably would never know was just how young and just how it happened.

The other issue that was gnawing at her was the issue of keeping the events in the fortress years before from him. She had once told Clark that a little mystery in relationships was a good thing but now she wasn't so sure. Lois had rationalized it by believing that it was her choice because it was her body. On some level, she knew she was right but she felt increasingly guilty about keeping a secret that beginning to feel more and more like a lie. While she could honestly proclaim that her body was her business, she knew that a child was a family decision and that she had unilaterally taken that decision away from Clark. She had given him no options or say in the matter. After two years, she wondered if the question of another child ever surfaced in his mind. He had never mentioned it but Clark was considerate to a fault. Perhaps, she thought, he believes after the tumultuous events of Lara's birth that she was reticent about having another child and didn't want to pressure her in any way. Lois knew that at some point, the question would arise and she would have to explain why they had not conceived another child because it certainly wasn't because they had abstained from lovemaking; quite the opposite. She also knew that she should be the one to bring the matter to light rather than admitting to him what happened after he asked the question.

Her thoughts jumped to Elle. She thought back to when she first met Elle in the park. She had mentioned that she hadn't had the opportunity to talk to Lois about important things that mothers and daughters share. In that respect, Lois felt that she was really disadvantaged because like Elle, her mother died young. _At what age do mothers and daughters start talking about boys and relationships? _ she wondered. Their last conversation in the apartment had left Lois with the impression that Elle had been less than ten years old when she lost her mother. Given the stories they shared and her level of recognition of people and events, she estimated that sometime between Elle's sixth birthday and tenth birthday, Lois would die.

"Hello!" Clark said waving his hand back and forth, snapping her out of her deep thoughts. She looked up to see him staring at her and she wondered how long he'd been trying to get her attention. "What's the matter, Lois? You've been distracted for a while now. Is something bothering you?"

She cocked her head, leaned forward in her chair and raised an eyebrow. Staring intently at Clark she replied, "Some_-thing_? You mean like being interrupted while trying to come up with a hook for this editorial?"

"Oh, sorry Lois; I didn't realize that's what you were doing. You seemed like you were daydreaming. I was asking if you wanted me to pick you up something from the Metro Café since you seemed so deep in thought."

She hated how thoughtful he was sometimes because it completely disarmed her. She lightened her tone and leaned back in her chair. "Sure, Honey. I didn't mean to snap at you. This editorial thingy is just so…"

"Frustrating at times?"

"Exactly! I thought an editorial was just giving your opinion on something but it's not that easy. I don't have a problem stating my opinion, as you're probably aware by now." Clark smiled and nodded. "I mean, you want it to be thought-provoking and you want it to be meaningful but at the same time you don't want to end up being some snooze-fest in print. It's a fine line, Clark and one I'm not sure I'm very good at. I'm more the 'kick ass and take names' type writer, you know? But thought-provoking without provoking a narcoleptic seizure…that is more challenging than I thought it would be."

He smiled. "You'll figure it out, Lois; you always do. I know you said you wanted to do this on your own but my offer to help still stands."

"Thanks Clark, but this is something I have to do on my own."

He shrugged. "So, do you want me to pick you up something?"

"No," she said, snapping off the flat panel monitor and jumping to her feet. "Let's get some fresh air. I need to get out and clear my head for a little while."

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC

April 30, 2020

Pete fidgeted. He never wanted to show his anxiety to Lex because he knew the moment that he did, it would be his downfall. Lex would view him as unreliable and a threat. He believed he knew Lex's grand scheme: provoke China into a diplomatic impasse and declare them an enemy of the country, freeze assets and declare payments on the massive debt owed by the US to its largest lender suspended. But provoking China to the point of open aggression was tenuous at best. The last thing Pete wanted was a hot war with a massive country with military capabilities that were as advanced as America's. Their huge army could only be defeated one way and that solution was unthinkable.

In the early 1960's, President Kennedy narrowly avoided a nuclear war with the Soviet Union by drawing a line and publicly warning his adversary not to cross it. Meanwhile, ultra-intense diplomatic maneuvers and concessions by both parties allowed both leaders to cede ground without losing face. The 'eleventh-hour' agreement was largely hailed as a great victory for President Kennedy in nearly every corner of the world except Turkey which lost the security of the nuclear arsenal the US had installed, making it vulnerable to Soviet incursions and distrusting of its US partner and ally.

That was the mid-20th century; this was the early 21st century and the issue was not military power but economic power. America lacked the leverage in the 21st century that Kennedy enjoyed. Years of overspending by Washington, coupled with greed and crippling regulation had stripped the US of its once-mighty economic engine: industry. To his credit, Lex had deftly implemented his economic policy and that crippled, decaying US industrial base had begun to show signs of a renaissance. Hiring began to pick up and America appeared to be on the verge of restoring its prominence in the world as an economic power. The only hindrance was the existence of a huge debt owed to China. It was a debt that could never be paid at the current rate of revenues Washington took in. Even though borrowing had ceased and a paltry annual payment to the national debt had begun this year, the interest alone on the national debt had become the largest single line item in the budget and having to pay it meant that pace of the economic renaissance would always be held back. Halting interest payments and applying those payments directly to the debt itself would significantly and quickly reduce the national debt as money borrowed from allies would be paid in full within a year and ensure their allegiance to the US in any confrontation with China.

Pete's understanding of Lex's plan was superficial by design. The plan was far broader and went far deeper than even Pete imagined. Pete suspected there was more to it because of Lex's public popularity and incredible leverage with Congress because of it. Secretly, Pete worried that he was becoming a pawn in Lex's scheme.

This morning's meeting had nothing to do with that. Pete and Lex were discussing potential nominees to succeed the late Justice William Hough. Pete had little doubt that Lex already knew who he wanted on the high court and Pete's concurrence was merely a formality.

The meeting was more than a formality. Lex wanted Pete's input to co-opt him further and to reassure the Vice President that he was a valued member of Lex's inner circle. Lex knew who he ultimately wanted on the court and would engage in a seemingly thoughtful discussion until both men reached agreement on Lex's choice.

In the end, it took three meetings and discussion of the pros and cons of each potential nominee before Pete offered the dark horse nominee as his preferred choice. Lex seemed to balk but after listening to Pete's rationale, slowly conceded that Pete's choice was the right choice. Pete left the final meeting feeling more confident in his ability to persuade Lex's decisions yet a voice inside his head warned him that he just got played.

By the end of the day, President Lex Luthor held a press conference announcing that he was nominating Federal Appeals Court Judge Andrew Wortman to replace Justice William Hough on the US Supreme Court. His announcement was met by great surprise and an immediate declaration from both parties in Congress that President Luthor's centrist choice for the high court would have an easy time in Senate confirmation hearings.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It had been a busy day for him; a bank robbery with hostages taken in Paris and a high-rise apartment fire in Bangkok. He arrived home late and Lois had already prepared dinner. He crept into the bedroom to change and shower before eating, careful not to wake Lara in the next room.

Lois sat quietly while they ate; something that was not altogether strange but it didn't happen often. He knew when that occurred, something was on her mind. Every so often, Clark would catch her staring at him. The first two times he caught her staring, she offered some odd, random comment to initiate a brief conversation that she never intended to have. The third time he caught her peering at him, he realized that there was something she wanted to say but was mulling over how to broach the subject.

"What is it, Lois? You obviously have something to say to me. What's troubling you?"

She chewed on her lower lip and looked down at her plate. "Clark, there's something I need to tell you…something I should have told you years ago." She looked up to find him staring at her.

"Go on," he said reassuringly.

"For a while," she began, "I didn't think it was something that really mattered and I rationalized that it was only my decision to make. Now, I know that decision was not fair to you; to us." Her throat began to burn and she halted momentarily.

Clark put his fork down and listened. Whatever decision she had made obviously was an important one and his heart broke watching her try to find a way to tell him what this momentous decision was. "Lois," he said "Whatever it is, you have to know that it won't change the way I feel about you. You know that, right?"

She nodded half-heartedly. "I hope you mean that," she muttered.

"Of course I mean it! We've had our disagreements in the past and we'll have them in the future. Even if I don't agree with what you've decided, it won't change the fact that I love you. I told you before you even learned my secret that you're the one I've always needed. Nothing has changed that and nothing will ever change that." He paused. "Whatever it is that you decided years ago; we can resolve it if I would have disagreed with your decision back then. It's okay; you can tell me."

She took a deep breath but it came in gulps. Tears formed in her eyes and she looked up at him. Swallowing hard, Lois continued. "Do you remember the day we took Lara to the fortress; the day Jor-El analyzed her blood and told me that he wanted to speak to me and me alone?" They had taken Lara to the fortress numerous times since then and Lois wanted to be certain that Clark knew the width and breadth of the secret she had kept from him. He nodded. "On that day, Jor-El explained some things to me. He basically told me that he was sorry." A tear trickled down her cheek and she laughed sadly as she quickly wiped it away. "Can you imagine that? After implying that I had been unfaithful to you for six months, Jor-El explained why he thought you and I could not conceive a child."

"Lois, you told me this before…well, maybe not that Jor-El apologized but that he explained his…"

"Well, it wasn't so much of an apology," she interrupted. "On a scale of one-to-ten, it was probably a 2 or 3. He explained how this transformation had occurred that allowed us to conceive."

"I remember you telling me that."

She nodded and looked down at her plate. She looked back up. "There was something else I didn't tell you though," she said weakly. She fought the urge to cry. "Jor-El also told me that as my DNA continued to mutate, it made me more likely to conceive children with human attributes and that because my DNA would have a greater effect on them, they would also have a greater likelihood of having human emotions…erratic emotions that could potentially create a race of superhuman beings that lacked the same Kryptonian control over emotions that you have."

Clark frowned. "That's nonsense, Lois. If there is living proof that a being's development is effected more by nurturing that by his or her nature, it would be me." He paused, debating whether to ask if Jor-El's warning was the reason that they had not conceived another child. He thought better of it and decided to let Lois finish what she was struggling to tell him.

"I know, I know," she replied. "But at the time, all I could think of was little Zods running around the planet and you spending all of your time trying to get them under control or stop the panic that they could create." She halted hoping that he would understand her frame of mind when she made the fateful decision.

"Zod was a maniac," Clark stated emphatically. "Zod is proof that the supposed advanced Kryptonian control over emotions and reasoning was not much different than that of human beings. He wanted power and he wanted to reign over humanity. How is that any different than power-hungry dictators throughout Earth's history?"

She shook her head. "No different," she mumbled. "But at the time, I didn't think about that. I thought about you and us; and Jor-El's words were so influential that I made a decision that day that I now regret and even more so, regret not telling you. I feel like I've betray our bond, Clark."

Clark was suddenly alarmed. This decision she made was something major; something that they may not be able to resolve. Lois realized it and he steeled himself for what she was about to tell him. "The fact that you feel that way, Lois, is proof of itself that you have not betrayed anything. You can tell me."

"I'm sterile, Clark," she blurted out. "That day in the fortress, Jor-El gave me a choice to either abstain from having an intimate relationship with you or be permanently sterilized and I choose being sterilized." Tear began to flow down her cheeks. She wanted to say more; wanted to say that given the two options that more kids were not important any longer and that with her living for another 600 years without enjoying lovemaking with him was unthinkable.

Clark's jaws clenched and unclenched. He stared at her and grew angrier but his ire was not with Lois; it was with Jor-El. His prejudiced father had bullied Lois into making a choice on the spot and had now put her in the position of feeling like she had betrayed him. He tried to control the anger, push it down inside so that it was not visible to the woman he loved and that it did not magnify the guilt she already felt. "Did Jor-El say that this sterilization was reversible?"

Eyes full of tears, Lois shook her head. "No," she croaked. "It's permanent." He remained silent, struggling with his own emotions. Pity for Lois and anger toward Jor-El made him feel conflicted. "Say something, Clark," she begged. "What are you thinking? I know I was wrong to keep this from you; to make this decision on my own. Please, Sweetheart, tell me what I can do to make this right; tell me that you can forgive me…" she trailed off.

He swallowed his anger and softened his features. "There's nothing to forgive, Lois. I wish you would have asked me first but I know the pressure Jor-El can apply. I know how intimidated he can make you feel and I am sorry that I allowed that to happen to you." He paused. "I'm not angry with you. If I know Jor-El, he gave you no opportunity to discuss it with me." She nodded and he donned a kindly smile. "You haven't betrayed me or our bond, Lois."

"I still made the decision, Clark." She began to cry. "I made the decision…I was the one who was wrong. I didn't have to make that decision and I could have walked away and discussed it with you first," she said between sobs.

Clark rose and quickly moved to her side, kneeling and putting his arm around her, pulling her close. He kissed the top of her head. "It's okay, Lo; it's okay," he said reassuringly. "We'll figure something out. We have Lara and if that's the only child we ever have, she's the blessing that neither of us ever expected. She's the proof that love finds a way and it will find a way for us again if that's what's meant to be."

His words of reassurance and optimism were cathartic to Lois. She melted into his large, warm frame and sobbed, filled with love for him and relief that the terrible secret that she had kept from him was met with such understanding and compassion. He held her until her sobs subsided and regained her composure. "I love you, Clark," she said hoarsely. "I know I don't say it very often but you're my world; you're everything," she whispered. Then she pulled him into a fierce kiss; an act to affirm her love for him and gratitude for his compassion. "You're right," she said weakly after their lips parted, "we'll find a way. We always find a way."

The moment was broken by a padding sound near the doorway the led from the living room to the bedrooms. As one, they looked toward the noise and in the doorway stood Lara. Her raven-black hair was tousled from sleeping. Dressed in a one-piece pajama adorned with little sheep, she beamed as they looked in her direction. "Daddeeeeeee," she said with a glowing smile.

"Lara! What are you doing out of your bed?" Clark asked, smiling. Lois wiped the streaked tears from her face and giggled. Lara squealed and scurried over to him. Clark pivoted on his knee and extended his arms to catch her. He hoisted her into the air and she shrieked with laughter. He lowered her to eye level and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I guess it's time to get rid of that crib and get a bed for you." He looked at Lois and then rose and pulled Lara into his arms. "But for tonight, you need to go to sleep in your crib, Sweetheart." He kissed her on the cheek again. "Come on; Daddy will tuck you in." He carried her back to her bedroom and disappeared in the darkness.

Lois watched; filled with love for her special daughter and the special man with whom she would spend the rest of her.

"Jor-El!" Clark boomed.

The ice cathedral seemed particularly alien to Clark at that moment. It was cold and harsh; devoid of love and emotion. The fortress had always been a place where Clark sought refuge in the advice of his biological father; where he found answers in consultation with Jor-El. Tonight it was the courtroom in which his soul mate had been summarily judged and sentenced over two years ago and to some degree by extension, his future as well.

_Welcome Kal-El_.

"Jor-El; tonight Lois told me that you rendered her unable to have additional children," Clark began. "I want to know why you would subject her to that without consulting me or giving her the chance to discuss the matter with me. I want it reversed immediately!" His tone was hard and demanding but measured.

_That is not possible, Kal-El. The procedure is irreversible. My son; the human race, as you know, is heavily controlled by their emotions rather than reason. It is one of the many reasons I sent you to them; to show them the value of…_

"Their emotion is what makes them a great people, Jor-El," Clark interrupted. "You above all recognized that many years ago. It was you that told me that it is their capacity for good, their desire to be a great people; it's a result of their emotions. It is the fact that they live their lives with emotion that makes them worth protecting. They're passionate about…"

_But they are not yet developed sufficiently to balance that emotion with reason_, Jor-El interjected. _The Kryptonian race was millenniums older than the human race and in its history, only a few hundred years separated the conduct of the two races, Kal-El! Only in its final centuries did Krypton enjoy the peace and prosperity that measured emotion provided. We shared the same emotions as humans do today but we were not governed by them. Kryptonians governed their actions through reason. It is that control that made Krypton a great society of people and it is that control that humans lack. It makes them unpredictable and quite predictable; a dangerous trait._

Clark was seething. "And yet it was Krypton that blessed Earth with the likes of Zod, Faora, and others like them!"

_Zod was an outlaw; his wife a psychopath._

"And he was the man you considered a close friend; one worth saving. He was a Kryptonian corroded by hate; whose sole purpose was seeking revenge on you by enslaving me and the human race! He was a man who loved his son so much that he felt betrayed when you refused to clone his dead child." Clark barked and Jor-El did not respond. "That doesn't sound like a race controlled by reason; it sounds like a race who wanted to believe it had control of its emotions but simply kept those emotions buried just beneath the surface…no different than the human race. Except that the humans embrace their emotions, not bury them."

_And for that reason they need your example, Kal-El. Your duty is not to govern them; not to force them to change but to influence the way they react and to show them the virtue of living life not devoid of emotion but with those emotions under control! Even now I sense you are angered yet you control yourself through reason. It is not the absence of emotion that humans need but the ability to control those emotions. _

"And bullying Lois into sterilization was the way to achieve that?" Clark roared. "Or was it because of some misplaced belief that humans just aren't as good as Kryptonians? Because my experience tells me just…"

_Kal-El!_ Jor-El boomed. His voice echoed throughout the crystal cavern, shaking the crystalline framework and loosening bits of snow that fell throughout the structure. _In my best judgment, the human race is not prepared for hybrid beings that possess the ability of a Kryptonian under the yellow sun but lacking the emotional control characteristic of humans. It is what I explained and why your life partner was both selfless and wise in deciding to end further procreation. Her life has been extended by many years; her aging nearly ceased. How many children would you two produce with her DNA gradually gaining more and more dominance? The sterilization prevented a world of uncontrolled super-powered beings like Zod for you to contend with. It is not my belief that humans are unworthy of anything, Kal-El but it is my belief that humans are unprepared to wield powers such as yours because they lack control of their emotionally-driven proclivity for wreaking havoc on one another! The very demeanor you exhibit at this moment is the caused by the influence of humanity and absence of Kryptonian control during your upbringing._

"And if coercing your son's wife into subjecting herself to sterilization procedure is characteristic of Kryptonian control then I will consider myself truly fortunate that I was not raised with that Kryptonian attribute!" Clark shouted. "My human upbringing taught me to have respect for others; not holding them in contempt for their weaknesses. It is simple arrogance that makes you believe that Kryptonians are somehow superior to humans when I know the opposite. I was raised with values instilled in me by my human parents; those values guide me – not yours! You may possess the knowledge of the 27 known universes but you know little about respect for human life and respect for one another. You've judged this race on the actions of a few; not the actions of the many and because of that, I have no further use for you or your counsel!"

_Kal-El, _Jor-El began, _do not presume…_

With that, Clark pulled the controlling crystal from its receptacle in the crystal console and Jor-El's voice and image faded. Looking at the crystal in his hand his first inclination was to smash it and raze the fortress. However, he thought better of it and instead, bundled all the crystals that contained the knowledge of the universe and that operated the various systems within the fortress together and exited. He turned and looked back at the darkened structure. With a deep breath, Clark blew a continuous blast of air that created a blizzard effect with the surrounding snow. In minutes the fortress was buried and appeared no different than the snow-covered mountains that ringed the fortress.

Standing there peering at the mountain of snow, Clark's anger was hardly assuaged. His anger was rooted in the lack of respect Jor-El had shown to Lois; his regimented thinking that nature, not nurture would prevail in all cases and that Lois and he were incapable to raising children in the manner that Martha and Jonathan had raised him. Jor-El had discounted the lessons Clark had learned from his adoptive parents and had diminished the values they had instilled in him.

He tried to understand Jor-El's stance; that human emotions were too incendiary to permit further mating between his son and a human. He tried to accept that Jor-El's view of humanity may have been formed a hundred years before now when mankind had just ended a world war. But try as he did, he could not help but seethe at the thought of Jor-El bullying Lois and intimidating her into accepting sterilization. It was not about Clark and whether he desired more children or not; it was that Jor-El's act had summarily robbed them both of making the decision as a couple. He had intruded on their relationship and unnecessarily impacted their future based on a prejudiced view of mankind.

Left beneath a mountainous heap of snow, Clark concluded, is exactly where Jor-El and his opinions belonged. He turned back, secured the crystals and flew off in the direction of Metropolis.

Clark returned to find Lois sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the wall screen and a live news report. A box of Kleenex sat next to her along with a small pile of wadded up tissues. At first, she didn't notice Clark's arrival but as soon as he entered the terrace doors, she jerked her head in his direction and then quickly turned back and began scooping up the tissues. "Clark; look at this!" she said, nodding at the screen.

A somber-looking reporter was standing in front of the White House talking about succession rules established by the US Constitution and the news crawler at the bottom of the screen read _President Lex Luthor steps down as President of the United States citing health concerns…Luthor made the announcement moments ago in a sudden news conference…Details about the health conditions affecting President Luthor remain undisclosed…Vice President Pete Ross will be sworn in as President of the United States in a ceremony scheduled for next Monday on the steps of the Capitol Building._

"What?" Clark said, temporarily dismissing the mound of spent tissues that clearly were not used on the announcement of Luthor stepping down as President. "When did this happen?"

"He made the announcement about forty-five minutes ago. I was watching a program and it broke in with Luthor's press conference." She looked at Clark. "What do you think this means, Honey?"

His brow furrowed. "I don't know, Lois. I know that Lex has had health problems in the past as a result of the fortress collapsing on the two of us but then again, I guess that was the old Lex; not the clone. Unless there has been some sudden reaction as a result of the cloning process, I couldn't begin to imagine Lex having health problems so severe that he'd voluntarily step down as President."

"Me neither," Lois agreed. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment and then asked, "Do you think this might the reason he announced that he wasn't running for a second term?"

Shrugging, Clark replied that anything could be likely when it involved Lex and her theory made sense. "But it isn't like Lex to put the country or anything else in front of his own ambitions. The Lex I know would die in the Oval Office before stepping down."

"That's what I thought, too." She hesitated. "Clark; maybe it's time to pay Pete a visit. I don't know him like you do but he may be able to shed some light on this and either way, he's going to need your support." Clark continued staring at the screen and nodded. She then noticed the bundle of crystals he was carrying. "What are you doing with those?"

He turned to her. "I shut it down, Lois; I shut down the fortress."

Her eyes widened. "But why, Clark? It's your refuge."

"You're my refuge, Lois. You've been my refuge for fifteen years. Only after tonight did I truly understand that. I don't need Jor-El or his guidance any longer; he's done enough harm already. I only need you."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

She was doing the unthinkable. For years she had had never wanted to be at this place and time in history. After learning that there could have been a different future for her and for her family, she resisted the temptation to come back because she didn't want to see it. But she had to know if there was something that could have happened differently that would have allowed her mother to live and the Kent family to live on the way Lois had described it to her. Now, she wondered if she would even be able to idly stand by and watch her mother die. Elle remembered the day with absolute clarity but eight–year old Lara was absent from the venue; she would hear the news from her grandmother back in Smallville and it would be hours before her father returned to comfort her. She was told that he was on assignment in Bejing, reporting on the decaying diplomatic efforts between US and Chinese diplomats. She knew better; she knew her father was Superman but never let on that she knew. There was a reason her mother or father had not told her and although she didn't know what that reason was, she accepted it and trusted their judgment. It was only several days after her mother's death that her father sat her down and told her who and what he truly was.

The weather befitted the occasion; it was overcast, hot and muggy. There was no breeze to be found and the air was thick with fear and tension, giving it a cloying quality. Although the sidewalks were crowded, the Metropolis citizenry seemed to be a slow-moving mass, burdened by the anxiety that had been created by world events and the oppressive high humidity and heat. They were glued to their smart phones; watching with dread as broadcasters posted countdown clocks on their sites. Some huddled together in fear and remorse; others angrily shouting profanities toward the sky. A handful of individuals had begun to abandon their sense of civility and morals, reacting to the events by committing isolated acts of lawlessness and anarchy.

It was August 10, 2027. Her hands trembled as she anxiously sat at a table across the street. Elle's heart ached just thinking of witnessing the senseless tragedy that would unfold in only a few moments. She nervously twisted the Legion Ring back and forth around her finger while she waited for the horrific event to unfold.

In and of itself, the murder of Lois Lane and wounding of three other bystanders was enough to shake the confidence of those who followed her investigative stories and editorials. Her murderer was never discovered and the motive never ascertained. However, the larger world crisis dwarfed the heinous act that silenced a prominent voice for justice and truth forever. What would have been a headline story for the Daily Planet was relegated to page 3 of tomorrow's paper. The front page of tomorrow's newspaper would be dedicated to the feats of Superman in preventing a nuclear exchange between the United States and China.

President Lex Luthor would order the launch and with missiles in mid-air, China would launch a counteroffensive from its own arsenal. Having just begun his third term as President, Luthor had used the escalating tensions between the two countries to win a third term. Years of vilifying the rival Asian nation had whipped the American public into frenzy and the launch against the Far East economic juggernaut was greeted with nervous but resolute nods in pubs and offices across the country. Those sentiments of deserved retribution were short-lived when reports of the massive nuclear counterattack broke.

Upon the first report of a US launch, Superman sprung into action; redirecting the outgoing missiles into space and deflecting incoming missiles with incredible speed and accuracy. In the end all missiles spent their fuel harmlessly in space and once adrift in the great void, the world's greatest protector located and destroyed them without incident.

The intervention was sufficient to avert further aggression; both sides gained time to reflect and each took a step back from the brink of further military action. As a result of his efforts to prevent global nuclear war, Superman would win the day but lose his future. In the midst of his intervention, Lois would be murdered.

The murder would be attributed to one of many random acts of anarchy spawned from fears of the impending end of humanity and oncoming nuclear winter. Lois Lane was a beloved figure in Metropolis and well- known across the country. While she had certainly made enemies with her stories and editorials over the years, none were deemed vicious enough to take her life.

Vice President Pete Ross would be among those who eulogized Lois and her contribution to mankind during her memorial service. Even President Lex Luthor gave her a passing mention. During the press conference to announce a formal cease-fire and emergency talks to reach a diplomatic solution, Lex thanked Superman for intervening to prevent a global catastrophe and mentioned Lois' untimely death at the hands of lawless villains. Lex stated that although her work was not always complimentary of his administration, her insights often served as a reality check for him and the pureness of her heart had often served to calibrate his own moral compass. He urged law enforcement officials to use all legal means to identify her killer.

All of this was a matter of historical record and she knew that her father would prevent the end of humanity that day. It was particularly ironic, Elle thought, that the act of saving humanity from annihilating itself would end with her father losing his faith in it. She wished she could intervene. She wished that preventing her mother's murder would not exact a price so steep that intervention was unconscionable. She questioned her resolve to sit and watch it all unfold and thought of alternatives. What if, she wondered, she went back hours before and simply disabled the nuclear missiles before they were launched? That way, the isolated incidents of lawlessness that led to her mother's murder would not have been spawned. She began to rationalize that by disabling the nuclear missiles, they could never be launched and a counterattack would not be ordered. She would prevent the moments of anarchy that followed the report of China's nuclear arsenal flying toward the United States and in that way there would be no catalyst for her mother's senseless killing.

But doing that would violate the mandate her father had espoused: she could not interfere in human history. Although his interventions often seemed to violate that mandate, it was a rule she had always obeyed. And if she intervened and nuclear weapons were not launched, would there be other measures employed that led to many more deaths that were unforeseen?

She spotted Lois, hustling down the sidewalk seconds away from her appointment with mortality and Elle's mouth went dry. She lost sight of her mother as Lois pushed her way into a crowd that had grown increasingly agitated while listening to reports of the two great powers engaging in a deadly struggle of brinksmanship. The sound of four rapid gunshots and screams erupted. The crowded sidewalk suddenly transformed into a terrified mob, scattering in all directions away from the shootings. As the crowd cleared, Elle saw Lois lying still on the ground. Three others; two men and a woman lay nearby, writhing in pain. Only seven bystanders remained, calling for help and attending to Lois and the three other wounded victims.

Tears running down her face, Elle rose and raced to her mother's side only to find that she was already dead. A single bullet had pierced her heart and killed her instantly. The wails of sirens rose as ambulances and police responded. She brushed locks of hair away from her mother's face and tears fell on the collar of Lois' blouse. A few moments later, she rose as ambulances arrived. Wiping tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her own blouse, she stepped back and turned to watch the rest of the events unfold. What she saw shocked her: a small procession of dark sedans with smoked glass windows slowly driving past. The second car in the procession slowed to a near stop as though hesitating before creeping by. As it passed Elle saw a face she immediately recognized; one she had seen many times over the last fifteen years. Frozen in a horrified gaze peering through the passenger window was the face of Lana Lang-Ross, wife of the former interim President and Vice President.

Lana's haunting countenance sent a chill through Elle and she suddenly began to wonder what part she played in the events. It was surely not a coincidence that her mother and the wife of the former Vice President were in such close proximity at this critical juncture in the history of human civilization. There was a reason for it; a reason only her mother and Lana knew and Elle was determined to find out what that reason was.

_Lana Lang-Ross. Why was she there the day Mom died? Was she directly involved and if she was, what was her involvement? A divergence, _Elle thought. _At some point, something changed that led to her dying young. Where was the divergence point? Did Lana have something to do with the divergence?_

Elle had returned to her own continuity. She sat in her apartment on a cold and dreary day in Metropolis on February 16, 2042, mulling over the confusing riddle of her mother's life. The image of her dead mother left her shaken and she wished that she could find a way to wipe that image from her memory. It was heartbreaking but at the same time, she found a piece of the puzzle that no one knew existed before. Determined to unravel the mystery, she decided it was time to pay Miss Lana Lang-Ross a visit to find out why she was in Metropolis fifteen years earlier on the day her mother was killed.

Lana had divorced former Vice President Pete Ross and was living on an expansive ranch outside of Richmond, Kentucky. She had made a bit of a splash by settling down in such a non-metropolitan area of the country but the former wife of the Vice President had returned to her passion: horse riding. On that expansive ranch, Lana had quickly developed one of the premiere riding academies in America. The millions of dollars that she had bankrolled since divorcing Lex Luthor made it a lot easier to do. She gained as much notoriety for her riding academy as she did being the ex-wife of a prominent politician.

The rich and famous sent their children to Lana's training center but it was not all for profit. Lana opened up her academy during the summers for underprivileged children and for the children of fallen servicemen and women. Those sessions were not well-publicized and Lana liked it like that. She preferred that her charitable work remain her own reward.

Elle knew Lana; not well but knew her. About three years after her mother's death and a year after divorcing the former vice president, Lana visited Metropolis half a dozen times to see her father. The visits over the span of about a year seemed random at first until Elle had grown older. Then she realized that Lana was trying to court her father and the sweet, friendly lady that Lana seemed to be suddenly lost her sheen.

Her father had obviously rejected Lana's advances because after about a year Lana quit visiting. Elle asked her father about Lana and he told her that Lana was his first love in high school but that things never worked out for them. When asked if he had ever told her his secret, Clark revealed that Lana had figured it out only after seven years of an on-again, off-again relationship with him. Her father added that he'd never truly felt comfortable telling her, saying that he had only felt comfortable telling her mother his true heritage and by doing so, it had changed his life for the better in uncountable ways.

Elle loved hearing her father talk about her mother. His eyes always lit up when he shared intimate and funny stories about his life with Lois and what an impact she had on him. But over the years, the stories became less frequent and her father became more brooding; something that she first thought was because of his association with Bruce Wayne until she realized that her father's wounded heart would never heal. And although Elle never felt that her father didn't love her or care about her, he withdrew and became more distant until the day he told her that he was leaving Earth and his plan to fake his death to make that exit possible.

Her phone rang and it was her boyfriend, Steve. He asked if she was coming over to visit him and Elle told him that she had a rough day and she just wanted to go to bed early. Steve suggested that he had a bed and going to it early with her was an idea he was not opposed to. She forced a chuckle but told him that she would not be good company tonight and that she'd come over tomorrow night. After a few minutes of small talk, they ended the conversation.

Steve was a wonderful man and they had been intimate for about a month. It was the culmination of two years of courting and their lovemaking had been amazing. But in her current frame of mind, Elle knew that she couldn't focus on him while being so preoccupied with the riddle of her mother's death. She looked out the window of her downtown apartment at the fading light in the sky, making the day seem all the more depressing. Bundling up to appear that she was girding herself against the cold like everyone else, she left her apartment and walked down the sidewalk of the dull, drab city. Everywhere she looked were black-draped photos of her father in shop windows. She glimpsed one picture of her father from earlier times; in the photo was her mother standing nearby holding a hand-held recorder in her outstretched hand as he spoke. She stopped and stared at the picture. Elle smiled sadly thinking what an amazing relationship they must have had and a lump formed in her throat. Tears welled in her eyes and she took a deep breath.

Moving on, she ducked into an alley unseen and then rocketed into the faint light above and headed for a large riding academy outside of Richmond, Kentucky. When she arrived, she hovered at a high altitude and scanned the inside of the beautiful home. She spotted Lana in an upstairs home office talking to a younger man. Elle assumed that the man was her administrative assistant based on their body language. Ms. Lang-Ross was giving him directions of some sort and after a few moments, the young man left the room and proceeded downstairs. She dropped directly onto a small balcony outside the office in which Lana sat.

Her arrival caught the motion-sensing light outside and it flashed on. Lana snapped her head in the direction of the French doors to see Elle standing in the light. Startled by the woman outside of her doors, Lana reached into a drawer and withdrew an automatic pistol and aimed it at Elle.

A bullet would not injure her but they did sting and Elle held up her hands in a defenseless posture and shook her head. Lana frowned, squinted her eyes and suddenly a look of recognition came over her. She lowered the pistol, replaced it in the drawer and immediately stood, moving to open the balcony doors. "Lara?" she asked. Elle nodded. "Come in; please!"

The home office was warm and inviting. It was furnished with beautiful wood and leather furniture. A fireplace was situated against the opposite wall from where Lana sat, surrounded by a leather sofa set and massive wooden coffee table. Lana moved to hug Elle and she accommodated the hug but did not return the gesture with much affection. "It's been how many years since we last saw each other?" Lana asked.

"About thirteen, Miss Ross," Elle answered.

"My God! It's been that long? Where does time go?" Lana asked rhetorically. "Sit down," she said, ushering her to the couch in front of the fireplace. "We have a lot of catching up to do." Elle smiled politely and nodded, following Lana to the sofa. For a woman in her mid-50's, Lana still looked incredibly young and beautiful. Her face had virtually no lines in it and her hair still remained its normal color, although Elle imagined that Lana had kept it that way with hair coloring. She had retained her figure and could easily pass for a woman in her early-forties.

Sitting next to her, Lana touched her forearm. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Lara. I know it must be difficult now that you've lost both parents." Her words were genuine but there was something within her tone that implied a greater sadness and Elle wondered if was the fact that her father was gone or that she concealed a secret about the day her mother died. She leaned closer. "I know he's not dead, Lara, but where is he?"

"He left," she said. "I'm not sure where he went. I think he may have gone to another universe," Elle said softly.

"But why?"

"He just lost faith in mankind over the years and he told me that there were too many memories here that he couldn't bear to revisit." She paused. "I have a guy in my life and I guess my father believed that I was on my own path and there was no need for him to stay. He was miserable," she added.

Lana's eyes moistened. "I'm so sorry for that, Lara. I know your dad was never the same after your mom died. I knew your father for years before he met your mother and I assume he told you of our history." Elle nodded. "But it was clear to me that once your mom arrived, your dad was destined to love her. Even when your dad and I were together, I always felt that he needed something more than I could give him and I knew in my heart, your mom was the one that could give him exactly what he needed."

"Thank you, Miss Ross," Elle replied.

"Please, Lara; call me Lana."

Elle smiled. "They were amazing together, weren't they?" Lana nodded. "I have so many memories of them and they always seemed so content with each other; so happy together."

"They were, Lara. They completed each other and that's why I knew after your mom's death that even though I would have liked to fill her place, I couldn't. I loved your dad but I just didn't have the spark your mom had and I realized I would only be a placeholder for the love your dad had for her."

Lana's honesty caught Elle by surprise. She expected the woman to be coy about her intentions toward her father after Lana divorced Pete Ross. "I appreciate your honesty, Lana," Elle began. "And it is the reason I'm here. I need to talk to you and I need your honesty to figure something out."

Once again, Lana reached out and touched Elle's forearm. "I'll be happy to tell you anything I can, Lara." She gazed intently into the young woman's eyes and could see that something was troubling her. "Go ahead and ask; I don't have anything to hide from you."

Elle leaned forward. "The day my mother was killed you were in Metropolis. You drove by the scene." Lana face drained of color. "Was that just a coincidence or do you have some knowledge that could shed some light on my mother's death?"

Lana swallowed hard. She took a deep breath and then stood. Walking to her desk, she pressed the intercom key on her phone and ordered a pot of tea, two cups and biscotti to be brought to her office. Once her order was acknowledged, she pivoted back to face Elle. "What I have to tell you," she began, "is a complex story. I've never told anyone this before – not even your father - but I'll tell you." She walked back over and sat. "We'll wait until afterwards so I won't be interrupted." They sat in an awkward silence awaiting the arrival of the repast. Mercifully, the wait was not long and Lana took the large tray from the servant at the door and gave orders that she was not to be interrupted.

She placed the tray on the coffee table, poured two cups of tea and placed amaretto biscotti on each small plate. She took a bite of the hard, tasty biscuit and a swallow of tea. She sat her cup back on the saucer and began. "I was there the day your mom died," she started. "To this day, I don't know if what I shared with her that day was the reason she was killed or if her death was truly the result of some crazed gunman. I wish I knew Lara," she said with her eyes moistening.

Elle frowned. "What was it that you shared with her, Lana?"

"A plot," Lana said in a burst of exhaled breath. "A plot that resulted in Lex Luthor getting his third term as President of the United States; a chain of events that he started years before to set him up to become a despot in America. He would have gotten his fourth term had it not been for your dad."

Elle nodded. She remembered when her father exposed Lex Luthor's link to the criminal empire that he had so carefully built before and during his presidency. President Luthor resigned in the third year of his third term, was eventually prosecuted and sentenced to twenty years in prison. All of it was based on Superman's testimony and evidence.

"What did that have to do with my mother's death?"

"I don't know if it had anything to do with it or not, Lara. All I know is that I told your mom about the plot and within minutes, she was dead. Whether that happened as a random act or a murder, I couldn't discover and I couldn't trust anyone else." Her eyes grew moist once again. "Your mom and I were friends for a few years before she fell in love with your dad. I always considered her to be my friend, even though I must admit I was terribly jealous of her when she married your dad. But I always trusted your mom because I knew the person she was and it's why I gave her that information about Lex's plot. She was on her way back to the Planet to do some research to corroborate the information I told her when she was killed."

Elle frowned. "Why didn't you just tell my father?"

Lana paused and took another bite of biscotti and swallow of tea. Finally she spoke. "This is the part that I'm least proud of Lara and it's the part where I'm going to ask your forgiveness before I tell you."

"Go on," she replied.

"There were two reasons. The first reason was that I was scared. If your mom was murdered because of the information I gave her, then I wouldn't be far behind if I tried to give it to someone else. If I told your dad, then he would have to be protecting me from the same ones that may have killed your mom."

"Why are you ashamed, Lana? Fearing for your life is nothing to be ashamed of," Elle replied.

"It's the second reason, Lara. That's the reason I am ashamed of." She took another sip of tea and then continued. "Your mom was dead and nothing I could do would bring her back." She looked down at the plate of biscotti and pushed a few around with her index finger. "I knew with your mom gone that I might be able to get back together with your dad," she concluded. She looked up in embarrassment. "I'm ashamed of that, Lara. Although your dad ultimately got the villain of the story, Lex may have been put away years earlier if I had not decided to make a play for your dad's affection. I was afraid that your dad would hold me partly responsible for your mom's death if Lex was at the center of it. I didn't want that thought to stain his opinion of me because I wanted to get back together with him." She paused. "Your mom's death may have been explained and justice for her would have been won." A tear raced down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand.

Elle was conflicted. Before her sat a powerful woman who may have held the key to her mother's premature death but had not uttered a word about it for over fifteen years. That angered Elle. But also before her was a woman who had just admitted her love of her father and was ashamed of her actions to win back his affection and for that, Elle could only feel sympathy for her. "You mentioned a plot, Lana. Can you tell me about that?"

Lana composed herself, took a deep breath and began. "This is a fairly long story. It began around the time you were born…"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Metropolis

April 30, 2021

"What if you knew something important but couldn't tell anyone?" Lois asked as she sipped her coffee. She looked over the rim of her glasses at Clark while he worked on his story.

"You do know something important that you can't tell anyone," he replied without looking away from his monitor. Slowly, a small smile spread across his face.

"Yeah, I know," she exclaimed and rolled her eyes. "But what if you knew something that could change the course of history but the way you found out wasn't exactly on the up and up. And you told your…source…that you wouldn't say anything about it to anyone. Would you tell someone anyway?"

Clark stopped what he was doing and looked at Lois. One of the thousands of traits Clark loved about Lois was her spontaneity; posing questions to him out of the clear blue. Her mind was always on, always inquisitive and always probing. But looking into her eyes, he could tell that this wasn't one of those spontaneous moments; this was not hypothetical or philosophical. Something was gnawing at her. She had information that she believed was life-altering to someone but whoever told her the information had asked her not to say anything about it. He stared at her a moment and the seriousness of her gaze meant that she wanted a thoughtful answer. "I guess it depends on how life-altering the piece of information was and how strongly the person who asked you not to reveal it felt about you revealing it. I guess it depends on the source." He frowned and then leaned over to pull open a drawer. "Doesn't one of Lois' Rules of Reporting mention something about a source?" He shuffled some papers around and then looked up. "Yep; rule number one," he said, sliding the drawer closed. He looked at her and winked.

She stared at him and smiled. After fifteen years, he could still do that: disarm her with something so sweet and sentimental. Of all his amazing abilities, the one that never failed to truly captivate her was his ability to look inside her and say or do just the right thing. It made it harder; knowing that someday in the near future she would no longer be around for moments like these and that he'd have no one else to spend these moments with. Lois was immediately overcome with emotions and her throat closed up and eyes burned.

Her reaction alarmed him. "What is it, Lois?" He bolted from his chair and was at her side before the first teardrop welled, scattering papers around the room. "What's the matter?"

She sniffled and buried her head in his shoulder. "I just love you so much, Clark," she croaked. "I know I don't tell you…often enough…but you know that you're my whole world, right?" He held her close and she fought back her tears.

"Of course I know that; and I feel the same way."

She lifted her head from his shoulder. "But you tell me; you show me," she said hoarsely. "You save me like every other week but I never say it and I don't show it enough."

He shook his head. "That's not true; you show me every day, Lois. You show it every time you grab my hand when we walk to lunch or when you call me by your pet names. You show me by the way you look at me." He kissed the top of her head. "You don't have to say the words for me to know how you feel. You accepted me for what I am and you shared your life with me; that's the greatest act of love you could ever show me. You're my link to humanity because of your love, Lois, and I'd be lost without you." He held her close. "What's the matter; why are you suddenly feeling like this?"

She leaned back. "There's something I need to tell you, Clark. Something that at first I thought wasn't something you needed to hear but it is something you need to know. I don't know how to say this in anyway other than just saying it." She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I will die a lot sooner than either of us imagined."

He looked at her with growing alarm. "Did Emil tell you that? Is something wrong, Lois? How do you know that?"

Dabbing her eyes with the cuff of her blouse, Lois took another deep breath. "It's a long story but it actually began on Lara's second birthday."

February 16, 2042

Outside of Richmond, Kentucky

"Pete was always wary of my feelings for your father. And admittedly, he probably was right to feel that way. I never truly got over your father," Lana Lang said matter-of-factly. "I respected your mother and always considered her a good friend so I never tried to display my feelings for your father out of respect for their marriage." She paused and the said, "But it is hard to hide feelings like that," she admitted softly. "I mean, even if you forget who he really is, we always had an attraction. Pete knew it."

Elle shifted slightly and covered by reaching for more tea. Lana was laying herself bare and although her candor was appreciated, such intimate details of her feelings for her father made the young woman a bit uncomfortable. She sipped at her tea and then set the cup back on the coffee table. Lana followed suit and the only sound heard was the ticking of a stylish walnut mantel clock over the fireplace.

"I think those feelings strained our relationship as much as his downward spiral under Lex's influence. He was a pawn and didn't realize it until it was too late. By then, he was enmeshed in Lex's plotting and no one would have believed he didn't know what was happening. For years I tried to get him to invite your father to visit because I knew that the longer he was under Lex's control, the less he would be able to see Luthor's true motives and the more he would be manipulated. If only he had spent more time with your father, Lara, I think he would have been so much less vulnerable and would have done the right thing. But he never did.

"Your father had a way of bringing out the best in Pete…I guess in all of us, really. Pete would have seen what Lex was up to years before it was too late and he would have done something. At least," she added, "the Pete I married would have."

"So Lex's plan was to ensure a swing in the Supreme Court to have enough justices in his corner? For what?" Elle asked.

"Lex's real plan was to be a dictator," she answered, "by getting the 22nd Amendment repealed. To do that, he needed to have enough Supreme Court justices to uphold any legal challenge."

"Then why did he step down halfway through his first term?" Elle replied. "Wouldn't it have been easier if he just worked the entire thing during his first term?"

"He didn't have the makeup of the court he needed. He was expecting Mathers to die of old age but wasn't willing to risk another mysterious Supreme Court justice death while in the Oval Office. He knew exactly what he was doing." Lana paused and leaned forward. "The information I gave your mother on the day she died was evidence about how Lex had planned to change the makeup of the court in order to repeal the 22nd Amendment. What very few know even today is that Hough didn't die of natural causes in his sleep and that the first justice that retired during Lex's first year retired because he succumbed to Lex's intimidation." She sat back. "That's the information I had for your mother. It was actual recordings that I found while going through some things when Pete and I were separating; Pete had found them at some point and hidden them away in the Naval Observatory library."

Elle made a face. "If Vice President Ross had evidence, why didn't he say something when he discovered them?"

"Pete was so enticed by the idea of taking over as President he went along with the plan. It was Lex's influence over him. I want to believe that he had his suspicions but not any evidence that Lex had ordered Hough murdered until he stumbled across it during Lex's second term.

"Lara," Lana continued, "Lex had made a deal with him. Lex told him that he would step down and let Pete finish his Presidency and only run again once Justice Mathers died. But as you know, once Lex resigned Mathers retired a month later. Pete's continued with Lex's plan of fanning the flames of hatred against China and appoint a third justice to the Supreme Court that would be favorable to Lex. By being out of the Oval Office and in some secluded location getting medical treatment, Lex had plausible deniability for the appointment and with two Presidents creating an enemy out of China; they had the voting public eating out of the palm of their hands." She looked down at the biscotti arranged on a fine china plate, then up at Elle. "Power…it just does something to people. It was like Pete lost his common sense when the Presidency was dangled in front of him and just blindly went along with Lex's scheme."

Elle blinked her eyes. "So your husband knew that Lex Luthor had ordered Justice Hough murdered and that he had forced Justice Nedders to retire?"

"Yes; but I don't know exactly when. He knew early on about Nedders; he told me that much. But I don't think he found out about Hough until well after Lex was elected for his second first term. By then Pete was so engaged with Lex, it would have been nearly impossible to claim he didn't know what had happened."

"So why the conflict with China?" Elle asked.

"The public supports a President during wartime; every President knows that. As long as they can make a case to the public, they will always get supported. Lex needed the Constitutional amendment ratified by the states. Presenting China as the bogeyman and himself as the sole person to protect us from financial ruin, Lex co-opted public support to ensure the 28th Amendment would be ratified and enough justices to thwart any legal challenge." She paused. "He set himself up to be President for life and if it wasn't for your father, he would still be President." Lana shook her head. "And Pete was an active participant in the plan by the time Lex got the 28th Amendment passed." She sighed. "He'd probably still be Vice President today if your father hadn't exposed Lex's involvement with organized crime."

"But launching a nuclear war with China? What did Lex expect to be ruler of in the aftermath of a global nuclear war?"

Lana smiled sadly. "He counted on your father to intervene. Lex knew that your father would never allow innocent lives to be annihilated like that. It's why Lex immediately called for a cease-fire as soon as your father had saved the day. He portrayed himself as a strong defender and then great peace-maker." She shrugged slightly. "And I guess you could say his tactic worked because China capitulated and quit manipulating their currency. So in a perverse way, Lex did help our economy and people loved him for that. They were willing to overlook the insanity of launching nuclear missiles when the end result was positive and no one was hurt."

"Except my mother," Elle replied solemnly. "And when she was gone, my father changed forever."

"I know," Lana said. "It broke my heart to see him so crushed. I wanted him to know I was there for him but to be honest; there wasn't anyone that could take her place in your father's life." She poured herself another cup of tea. "More?" she asked, holding up the silver pot. Elle nodded and Lana poured another cup for the young woman.

"Lana," Elle began. "Thinking back to that day, do you think someone murdered my mother intentionally or do you think it's what has always been concluded; she was a random victim? What do you think; not what can you prove?"

Lana stared at Elle's deep blue-green eyes. She broke eye contact and looked at the fire and slightly nodded. "Yes," she said in nearly a whisper. "I think Lex knew Pete had the evidence. I think Lex planted it to test Pete's loyalty. When Lex knew it was missing, he had to know I had it and had me monitored. Or maybe it had a tracking chip. Either way, the moment I contacted your mother and set up an appointment, I think Lex decided to create a diversion for your father so he could have your mother murdered. Your father had quite a reputation for saving your mother so he had to create a diversion that would occupy your father. What better diversion than a global nuclear war? Create panic, anarchy and have someone murdered in the midst of that maelstrom he created." She looked back at Elle. "Yes Lara. I think she was murdered. It's why the evidence was never found and it is something that Lex would do. It's why I've never told anyone until now because I was afraid the same would happen to me and with the evidence gone I had nothing to back up my claims." Elle nodded. "Lex is normally very subtle. But when subtlety doesn't meet his needs, he uses misdirection; it's the way he has always been."

Metropolis

April 30, 2021

"She asked me not to tell you that she visited, Clark. She didn't come back to warn me or to tell me about the future; she came back because she simply wanted to talk to her mother about her relationship with a man she's in love with."

Clark rubbed his chin. He was not particularly happy that Lara traveled back from the future and in doing so, told Lois that she would die young. Too many things can be set in motion when people know the future. Maybe, he thought, things have already been set in motion and Lois won't die young.

"You are the one that gave her the ring and told her that if she needed to talk that she should use it to come back and talk with me."

"And she didn't say how or she didn't say when you would die in the future?"

Lois shook her head. "No. She was very disciplined about that. I gauged her memories of things and I'm guessing that she was between six and ten years old when I died."

His face hardened. "That's as soon as four years from now!"

"I'm not telling you this so that you can begin hovering over me," Lois said. "In fact, I better not see any difference in the way you care for me because I'm telling you this," she added. "The reason I told you this is because of the effect it has on you and the effect it has on mankind in the end." She took his hand. "According to what Lara told me, you changed the day I died. You became withdrawn and lost faith in humanity. You eventually leave Earth because of it and Earth isn't the same without you. No matter what happens to me, you can't give up on us. If you do, all the work you've done will be in vain, Clark. Every moment we've spent apart while you're saving the world will simply have been time once I'm gone. Abandoning mankind will make that wasted time. Don't you see that?"

"Yes."

"And maybe now that you know, you can be better prepared. We can live knowing that my time is shorter than we expected and we can make the most of it." Her voice wavered. "We can spend these last few years without any expectations and just embrace the years we have left, you know?"

Clark nodded solemnly. "Or I can prevent it from happening," he added.

She frowned. "But you can't, Clark. You've told me what happened when you changed the past by saving Lana."

"I won't be changing the past, Lois. Keeping you safe will not change anything but the future." He looked at her. "I cannot travel back to reverse someone's death without there being dire consequences. But I can prevent someone from dying today and that doesn't change the past; it simply changes the future and I do that every day."

Cocking her head, "Okay," Lois replied. "I guess I understand that. But keeping me from dying better not involve you putting me in some sort of protective bubble, Flannel Man. I think I'd rather die," she concluded with a chuckle.

"What I need to do is figure out how you died and what caused it. If I can prevent that from happening, then I can prevent the future event from happening."

"How will you do that Clark? You'd have to travel to the future to figure that out. Once you travel to the future, won't that mean you're changing the past and all of a sudden those dire consequences kick in? The only way to know what happens in the future is if you go to the future; right?"

"Or talk to someone from the future who already knows," he replied.

"Lara?"

"Yes," he replied. "If I can talk to her and know what is happening in the future, I can prevent it."

"Won't doing that risk changing her? What if she dies because of it?"

"The only way that would change her is to give her a mother back," he answered. "The problem is that by knowing about the future now, will we ever see her again? By knowing your future, it may have already changed her future and there may be no reason for her to return to the past." He looked out the window. "This is why dealing with future events is so dangerous, Lois."

"And confusing," she added.

He looked back at her. "Have you seen her since she told you about your future?"

"I've seen her three times, Clark. Once at the park after Lara's birthday, then when you were over in Japan, and then when you were in Egypt. The second time she visited is when I learned I wasn't alive in her future and hadn't been alive for some time."

"So even knowing that you won't live to be over a hundred years old didn't change the future for her," he said guardedly. "That means simply knowing that your life ends prematurely hasn't caused that future to change. So maybe she will return."

"She usually returns when something big happens and you're involved in it. She knows she has time to talk to me."

He nodded. "Next time she shows up, you need to tell her that she must talk to me. You need to tell her that by telling me about the future won't have the same consequences that her changing the past would have." Clark paused. "The night we had a fight down in the bullpen when Chloe was missing with Davis Bloome; I had a visit from the Legion. I was told about the future then and what I needed to do to keep from dying. The Legion could have come in and taken Bloome from the present but they would have risked the future by doing it. That's why they left it for me to do; I changed the future, not them. You knew about the future when Zod and the Kandorians were on Earth and I changed that future. It's the same way with Lara."

February 16, 2042

Outside of Richmond, Kentucky

"So now that you know," Lana asked, "what will you do with that information?"

Elle rose. "I'm not sure, Lana. I just needed to know, I guess," she replied. "Nothing I can do will bring her back." She headed for the balcony doors. "Thank you for telling me, though. I appreciate you being so open about it."

Lana smiled sadly. "You're welcome, Lara. And come back anytime; you're always welcome here." She hesitated and then blurted, "Before you go, I need to ask you something." Elle stopped and turned to face her. "How did you know I was there the day your Mom died?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

February 17, 2042

Metropolis

Elle landed on the roof of her apartment building in the blackness of the early morning hours following her meeting with Lana. She had spent the intervening time flying high above the Earth trying to make sense of the tragedy that had occurred almost fifteen years earlier. _For what; another term as President, _she asked herself. _To be the President of the United States for life? For that my mother had to die? Because of something as simple as one madman's avarice,_ she thought, _the rest of humanity would suffer the loss of not just her mother but her father and his faith in them. _ She fought back the rising anger and rising tears. _As brilliant as Lex Luthor's supporters claimed he was, did he fail to gauge the consequences of his actions or did he just not care?_ The brief times she had spent with Lois made her miss her intrepid mother far more than she'd ever imagined. She wondered if she had known how much pain and regret seeing her mother alive would have brought, would she have ever made the trip back in time?

Entering her apartment, she wandered aimlessly to her bed and flopped down onto it. Her eyes closed and visions of her dinner with her mother sprang into her mind. Her mother's easy smile; her genuineness and the sense of love that flowed from her were difficult memories to suppress. She wanted to do something – anything – to change history. Elle tried to convince herself that if she did do something to change history, she would not be doing it for selfish reasons but she knew that was a lie. She wanted to be with her mother; to see the happiness her mother brought to their family and the warmth her mother shared with both of them. She wanted to see her father happy and fulfilled once again. The longing to feel her mother's embrace brought Elle to tears and they streaked down from the corners of her eyes and disappeared into the thick, black hair above her ears.

The consequences of changing the past were too dire for her to seriously consider. It was her own heartache that drove her to consider doing something to change that past. But she knew that there were no 'do-overs'. Her father had told her many times about the death of her grandfather and how he believed it could have been avoided had he not changed that past. Elle tried to mentally trace all the consequences of the decision that her father had made so many years before her birth. Had he not changed the past and Lana had died that night, she would have never married Pete Ross and would never have been exposed to Luthor's plot. Lana would not have been able to tell her mother about Lex's plot and her mother could still be alive today. The possibility seemed so concrete that it reinforced the belief that going back in history to change the past was indeed a grave mistake and the consequences were both great and unforeseen.

Her father was right. Mankind had made its decisions and it was not her place to change those decisions; it was her place to carry on what her father had begun: change the moral foundation upon which people made their decisions and choices.

In the early morning blackness, Elle fell asleep as confused and conflicted as she had been while circling the Earth from high above its surface. Her last cogent thought before drifting into a deep sleep was that she needed to go back; not to change the past but just to spend more time with her mother and experience more of what she so badly missed.

June 16, 2021

Metropolis

It had been nearly seven weeks since Lois saw Elle. Every day she grew increasingly convinced that the future had changed and Elle would have no reason to come back or would not want to come back. What, if anything, had changed was still a mystery. Clark had not been absent for any long periods of time though and she knew that he had to be engaged for hours before Elle would appear. The waiting and anticipation was distracting and annoying, putting Lois on edge. That anxiety began to bubble to the surface more often, catching Clark in the direct line of fire and leaving her embarrassed for making him the target of her anxiety. She found herself apologizing more frequently than ever before.

Clark understood. He was growing more anxious as well but kept it bottled up. He had spent many waking hours since Lois' revelation wondering what the catalyst for her untimely death would be and how he would prevent it from happening. There were just too many scenarios and he resolved his worries by assuring himself that he would react more judiciously to things; he would consider long-term implications of his actions more closely than ever before. His training with Jor-El had left him with a better understanding of the implications of today's actions on the future and he knew that even the simplest of acts could have repercussions and unforeseen consequences long into the future. A child he saved today could grow to be a sociopathic serial killer in the future; a crime thwarted today could prevent a bolder and more deadly crime in the future. Exercising prudence did not have an adverse impact on his sense of urgency however. To the casual observer, there was no change in Superman's feats of salvation. Only in Clark's mind was a keener evaluation of the long-term effects ongoing when he acted.

They had talked about the possibilities and the talks helped calm Lois. Knowing that Clark could change the future and prevent her premature death without causing catastrophic consequences was reassuring. She wanted to live the long life promised by 'Old Clark' on the night of Lara's birth; spending every minute of it helping Clark complete his mission of protecting and changing mankind. The future she had heard about was worth living to see but moreover, being credited with helping Superman change the course of mankind's existence made it even more appealing. There had been a time when Lois wondered what she could offer mankind; what legacy she would leave. Knowing what that offer could be meant wanting to see it unfold while she lived.

But being reassured was not the same as being relieved though and try as hard as she may, Lois could not escape the nagging question: would Elle reappear and if she didn't, what would it mean?

Lara was down for the night and they had finished dinner. She was finishing rinsing off the dinner plates and putting the last of the flatware into the dishwasher when Clark appeared in front of her. "Gotta go! Big terrorist incident in Indonesia." He grabbed her by the shoulders, pulled her into a kiss and released her. "If Lara shows up, stall her. Tell her to stay!"

"I will," she said, voice full of hope as he virtually vanished out through the terrace doors and into the night sky. She turned back to the sink, smiled hopefully and finished rinsing the last of the dishes. She closed and started the dishwasher, dried her hands and moved to the living room. She snapped on the flat panel in time to catch a live broadcast from Jakarta. Terrorists had seized hostages in the Mall Taman Anggrek, known in the West as the Orchid Garden Mall. In a highly orchestrated operation, the terrorists gained control of the six upper floors of the massive shopping mall and were reported to have operatives in the eight surrounding residential apartment towers. Those operatives were said to be prepared to detonate suicide vests that would bring the towers down onto the thousands of shoppers and merchants held hostage in the mall and kill the remaining occupants of the towers.

"Holy sh…" Lois began when movement to her right caught her eye. She turned and Elle stood on the terrace. She leapt to her feet and turned to greet her daughter from the future with open arms and a wide smile. "My God," she exclaimed as Elle walked in. "I was so worried that I'd never see you again!" She gave her daughter a strong embrace. "Your Dad just left," she added. "You probably knew that."

The young woman returned the embrace and held it longer than she had in the past. "I sometimes forget time is different for you. I was here less than two days ago in my time," Elle replied as she released Lois. "I had to choose the right time to come."

"I have been so anxious for you to come," Lois replied. "We have to talk. Would you like some coffee?"

"Sure," Elle replied and settled onto the couch in front of the television. She saw glimpses of her father and an excited reporter mentioned the name, Superman.

Lois returned to the couch with two cups of coffee. She snapped off the television. "I hope this turns out okay," she said. "Your Dad's fast but six floors and eight towers? I don't know how he'll cover that."

"It turns out pretty good," Elle replied and looked down at the floor. "There was very minimal loss of life. There will be negotiations for a few hours that eventually collapse. But two detonate their vests and even father won't be fast enough to save all of them."

"Oh," Lois sighed. "Then he won't be back for a while and when he does, he won't be at peace with himself." She took Elle's hand and their eyes met. "That's always been my job; picking up the pieces," she said with a comforting smile. "He knows deep down inside that he can't save everyone but he always expects himself to, no matter how impossible the odds. When it doesn't work out, that's where I come in."

"The more I know about you, Mom; the more I understand why Father felt so empty when you were gone. And now I'm…" she began and then halted.

"You're what?"

Taking a deep breath, "I'm even sadder that you weren't around more in my life. Knowing what you did for Father; being old enough to understand the roles and dynamics makes you more incredible than I ever imagined." Elle swallowed hard. "After you were gone, Father didn't talk much about why you were so important to him and now I'm finally getting to see why. I always thought he was just broken-hearted but now I realize it is more than simply being heartbroken. It's like a part of him died when you passed and it was more than just sadness and a feeling of loss; it was a loss of an important part of him." She paused and then added, "As reporters, you two were considered the most dynamic team in news and I was always impressed by that. What's strange to me now is if people knew the real team that you two were, the news stuff would have paled in comparison."

"Did anyone ever learn the truth about the two of us, Elle?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I'm sure some had their suspicions but out of respect for your reputation and that of Father's, if someone outside of the JL knew something it never became public."

"And what becomes of the JL? Is it still active? Not the original ones because some of them have already hung up their costumes but did the next generation carry on?"

"Me," she replied. "But after Father left, there was really no leadership for the group and they just went their separate ways. I hear about their feats every so often but as for any 'team'; there just isn't one."

Lois was silent for a few moments and then spoke. "Elle, there is something I have to tell you. I told your Dad that you have visited me."

Eyes widening, Elle replied, "You did? What did he say when you told him?"

"He's very concerned."

She grimaced. "Angry-concerned or worried-concerned?"

"Worried, Sweetheart. He's worried about you; he's worried about how you're doing and how you're getting along all alone. The fact that you have no one to talk to concerns him because he always had his Mom and me to talk to." Lois paused. "You don't have your grandmother to talk any longer do you?"

She shook her head. "Not for a couple years now. When she passed away, it was like the final straw for Father." She sighed. "I know he tried to engage me in conversations but they always seemed awkward or forced. They were either very philosophical or very superficial. It was like he was trying to be a father rather than being one; like he had simply lost any zest for life."

"And you think it all has to do with me?" Lois asked.

"I don't think it; I know it. He said as much before he left but he didn't have to explain. You could look at him and tell that he was empty inside."

Lois remained silent for a while and then continued. "I also told him that I won't be around for as long as we expected."

"How did he take that news?"

"He wants to talk to you. He wants to know…"

"No!" Elle interrupted. "He may want to know now but if he knew what I know; if he knew the repercussions of changing the past to save someone he would never want to know, Mom."

Lois calmly took her daughter's hand. "Elle, you telling your father will not change the past; it will change the future. There are no consequences with him preventing something that hasn't happened yet from happening. I don't fully understand the difference, Sweetheart, but your Dad does. He told me explicitly that he saves people's lives every day. He just cannot travel back in time to change history without there being a ripple effect of consequences."

Leaning forward, Elle countered, "I know the ripple effect, Mom. You may have been a victim of the ripple effect," she blurted out.

Lois cocked her head. "Me? But…how would I be a victim? The only time that your Dad reversed someone dying was his first girlfriend, Lana."

"I can't say any more, Mom," Elle protested.

"Your Dad wants you to stay; he wants to discuss it with you."

"I can't Mom; it's too risky."

"Yes you can," a voice called out from the terrace. The women looked and Clark stood on the terrace in full costume. "There is no risk involved, Lara."

"Father!" she called out and rose to her feet. "But…I thought…you're supposed to be in Jakarta, aren't you?"

"I was," he replied walking into the room. "But I called for backup and between Kara, J'onn, Bruce, Bart, Diana, Victor, and me, all the terrorists were disarmed and the crisis ended before anyone was hurt." He walked to her and put his arms around her, pulling her deep into his massive frame. "Doing something now only alters the future; it doesn't change the past."

She returned his embrace. "But how did you know, Father?" she said softly in his ear.

"I didn't but I assumed," he replied releasing his embrace. A sparkle was in his eyes that Elle had long since forgotten existed. "Ever since your Mom told me that something had altered a future that she learned about the night you were born, I have been more deliberate in how I respond. I don't know what might have happened in your past but I know that assembling the team and handling it that way, rather than alone, was the right decision. It's not one I would have been inclined to make otherwise."

"And in my past, you didn't save everyone. You waited until negotiations failed and you rushed in. You saved thousands but about thirteen people were killed." She paused. "But won't that change things now? Won't those thirteen who lived change things in the future?"

"Of course they will," Clark replied. "But there is no balance that needs to be achieved. In this timeline, they lived."

She looked at Lois who shrugged her shoulders. "Don't look at me. I got left behind in this conversation a few minutes ago."

"Lara," Clark resumed, "You didn't change the past; I changed the future tonight. I made a decision I normally wouldn't have made and the outcome was different than when I made it in the past that you know of. If you had traveled back in time and interfered, then a balance would have had to occur. But you didn't do anything to change the past and no balance needs to occur. Do you understand the difference?"

She nodded slowly. "So as long as I am not the one that changes events of the past, then there is no imbalance in the universe. Is that right?"

"Yes," he replied smiling. "I was forewarned of my death many years ago by the Legion. I was told that if I didn't take a specific course of action that I would be killed by Doomsday. Because of that warning, I was able to change the future and survive. The Legion traveled from the 31st century to warn me. I have seen them since the night I defeated Doomsday the first time and the second time. Their future changed but not in a negative way. Doing something based on knowledge of the future does not come with a consequence the way that traveling back and changing something in the past comes with. Preventing a death in the past causes the imbalance and when I did that, it came with a terrible price."

"Your Dad."

"Yes."

"And maybe me?" Lois chimed in.

"Maybe," Elle replied and Clark frowned. "So I guess it is safe to tell you what happens in the future." 

"Yes, but let me change first."

"Let me get us all some coffee," Lois announced, "and I think there's some pie left unless your father ate it."

"I'll help you, Mom," Elle said as Clark disappeared into the bedroom.

He reappeared in casual clothes after changing and checking on Lara. Lois placed coffee in three places on the dinner table and set a half-eaten apple pie in the center. They all sat and grabbed for the piping hot coffee in unison. Clark sipped his coffee and sat it on the table. "Now, tell me what you know, Lara."

Elle recounted the entire events of the day her mother was killed and her subsequent meeting with Lana. She concluded by saying that she had surmised that if Lana had not have been saved, she never would have been in a position to pass the information to Lois and Lois would be alive in the future from which Elle travelled.

"Is that why you said I was a victim of the ripple effect?"

She nodded. Clark offered the opinion that Lois' death was probably not the universe balancing his reversing Lana's death but was merely an unforeseen consequence. "Your grandfather was the price paid for that," he added.

"It sounds like you need to visit Pete," Lois offered. "It sounds like he may be crucial to stopping this whole ugly future from even occurring."

"I agree," Clark said. "But Justice Mathers has already retired so time is short. I need to get in and see Pete quickly before he can nominate Lex's choice for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court. The question is do I go in as Clark Kent or as Superman?"

"He was Clark Kent's best friend first. I'd suggest that route," Lois replied.

"But I'm known as a reporter and I might not get to him going in that persona."

"Lana said that she wished you had spent more time with Pete," Elle added. "I was left with the impression that she meant Clark, not Superman." She snorted. "Superman can be a little intimidating even to those who know his secret."

Clark looked at Lois who cocked her head. "Your powers, my brains. It's a wonder the future isn't pure perfection."

He nodded and took a long look at Elle. She may have his powers but she also had her mother's beauty and inner strength. "I'm so proud of what you've become, Lara," he said. "You're as beautiful as your mother and just as strong. I know it took a lot of courage to come back and even more courage to sit by on the day your mother was killed and do nothing."

Tears formed in her eyes. "You've never told me things like that before, Father. You always were gentle, kind and patient but without Mom, you were always aloof. You tried but it was always obvious you were trying. I loved you for trying but it wasn't the same as this very moment. This is the father I knew existed once but I never remembered." She began to weep quietly.

Clark looked at Lois and then moved to Elle's side. "Nothing would ever keep me from loving you," he said softly. "You know that, right?" She nodded but couldn't find her voice. He kissed the top of her head and moved to Lois. "I'm here for you now, Lara; we both are. There isn't any reason for you to return to that future until we sort out things in this timeline. Maybe then things will be this way when you return."

She looked up at both of them with tear-streaked face. "You mean that?"

"Of course we do," Lois blurted out.

"Where should I stay?" Elle asked, looking dubiously at the couch.

Lois hopped up and dug in her purse that sat on the pass-through into the kitchen. She pulled out her phone. "You can stay with your Aunt Chloe. If anyone can handle something like this without having a million questions to answer, she can." She punched the speed dial number and after a few rings, Chloe answered. "Hey Cuz, I got a favor to ask," Lois began. "Would you mind letting Lara stay with you for a little while?" She looked at Clark, grinning. "No, you won't have to watch her all day," she replied to Chloe's question and winked at Elle. "No, I don't think she'll be a problem for you at all. In fact, I'm sure you'll have a fascinating time with her."

As First Lady, Lana Lang-Ross had already begun to add some refined elegance to the White House. Lex Luthor was single and without a woman's touch, the décor lacked any continuity or theme.

Lex had resigned and disappeared from public view two months earlier and after Pete was sworn in, Lana had been busy getting involved in a youth-based empowerment program to improve outcomes of orphaned children and those who had aged out of state foster care programs.

Her Chief of Staff entered the room with a cell phone. "Excuse me, Mrs. Ross but I have a personal call for you. It's from a person who says he's a friend of yours; a Mr. Clark Kent of the Daily Planet."

"Thank you, Jane," she said, taking the phone from the woman. "That will be all for now." The woman left the room and Lana pushed the button to un-mute the phone. "Clark?" she said and her pulse raced. "My God, I've been meaning to call you and Lois and invite you to join us at the White House for dinner. But we hardly have any time to ourselves anymore. Is this a personal or professional call?"

"A bit of both, Lana," he replied. "I really need to speak to you and to Pete; it's urgent. Is it possible to see you two tonight?" Clark asked.

"Tonight?" She hesitated. "Oooo. Let me check his calendar and mine before I give you an answer. I will call you right back," she promised.

"Okay, Lana," Clark replied. "But I'm not exaggerating when I say it's urgent."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Taking Elle to her aunt's home was something that they both wanted to do, just to see Chloe's expression when they arrived at her door to drop off 23-year old Lara. Chloe took it stride, understandably confused at first. She kept cutting glances back and forth at Lois and Elle with a frozen smile on her face that slowly thinned while Clark spoke. She didn't hear what he was saying; she was trying to figure out why the stunning young woman standing next to Lois looked so much like her favorite cousin.

Before long it dawned on her that the young woman was Lara. Her eyes grew wide and she flashed her brilliant smile, unexpectedly pulling Elle into a hug. "Oh boy," she exclaimed, "this is going to be interesting." She held Elle by the shoulders at arm's length and looked at Clark and cocked her head. "She has your eyes but the rest of her is pure Lois." With a raised eyebrow, she snarked, "Hopefully she doesn't have Lois' disposition."

They entered Chloe's spacious home in the suburbs of Metropolis and talked for a short while trying to help break the ice. Clark explained that Lara had returned to warn them about a plot by Lex that would have grave consequences. He never mentioned Lois' death was an outcome of those consequences.

"I guess I can put away the little bed in my room," Chloe said. "Connor is sleeping in his room and you can sleep in the guest room, Lara." She paused. "It's funny," she began, "you'll be spending time with your older cousin who is 6 years old."

Elle smiled. "The Connor I know is 28 years old." She paused and then said, "Does he shoot arrows yet?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I couldn't stop him if I wanted to! His father started him doing that, you know."

"Yes. His father was the original Green Arrow."

"Original?" Lois asked. "There's an updated version?"

Elle nodded. "Connor, actually."

Chloe beamed and Clark's phone rang. Lana called and told him that they were free if he could come right away. He told him he would be there in ten minutes and hung up. Lois and Clark moved to the front door. "Before you go," Chloe began, "I have to ask. Is Pete mixed up in Lex's plot?"

"I'm not sure, Chloe," Clark replied. "He learns about it but at what point, Lana wasn't sure." He picked Lois up in his arms. "I'm hoping I can get to him in time." He walked out the front door and onto the darkened porch. "I'll let you know in the morning," he said and took off, quickly disappearing into the black night.

Washington, DC

June 16, 2021

"Come in," Lana said softly, holding the door open for Clark. He had flown in his street clothes and then blurred onto the balcony of the residential wing of the White House undetected. "Hurry before the Secret Service sees you."

It was nearly 10:30 PM by the time Clark reached them. The residential wing contained a private library where the three met. Pete was waiting there and gave Clark strong handshake and then pulled him into a friendly hug. "It's good to see you, Man," he said. "It's been way too long."

"It has, Pete and I'm sorry that we haven't gotten together sooner."

Lana hugged Clark and gave him an 'air kiss'. "We're so pleased that you called but it sounded so dire. What's going on, Clark?"

"We need to talk where there is complete confidentiality," he replied. "I'm not sure if things are dire yet, but I believe we'll soon know."

They led Clark to a rich leather chair and they sat opposite on a matching leather settee. On the small table between them sat a silver coffee pot and Lana poured three cups of coffee for them. "So what's going on, Clark?" Pete asked directly. "Is there some potential intergalactic threat I need to know about?"

"There's a threat, Pete but it's not intergalactic. It's here and it's real." Clark's serious tone and icy blue-green eyes fixed Pete and Lana. "There's a plot that will unfold and result in the launching of America's nuclear arsenal if something isn't changed that leads to it."

"A nuclear attack!" Lana exclaimed. "Against whom?"

"China," Clark responded.

"Worse things could happen," Pete remarked and Lana turned to stare at him.

"No," Clark replied, "because it provokes an immediate nuclear retaliation, Pete."

"How can you even say that, Pete?" Lana accused. "Vaporizing billions of people; it doesn't get worse than that!"

Pete shrugged a bit and then admitted that the comment was hastily made. "But China has us by the throat and we won't survive as an independent nation if something drastic doesn't happen," he replied.

"Pete," Clark began, "that's Lex talking."

Pete flinched slightly and stiffened. "I hope you aren't here to simply bash Lex because I owe him a lot, Clark. Least of all, I owe him my loyalty. And if you're here on some personal mission to demonize him or try to turn me against him, then this visit is a waste of time and I think you're meddling in things you have no business meddling in."

"Pete!" Lana admonished.

"I'm the President and I'm responsible for the future of this nation, Lana," he replied. "It's my duty to protect it and it's my responsibility to complete Lex's term as if he were sitting here right now."

"Even if it means being an accessory to murder?" Clark asked.

"Is that what you consider it, Clark; defending your country?"

"That's not what I'm talking about, Pete. I'm talking about the murder of a Supreme Court Justice just so Lex can shape the court to favor his long term plans."

Pete sat back and frowned. "What are you talking about? No Supreme Court Justice was murdered. The only active justice to die was Hough and he died of natural causes. Nedders retired and after Lex resigned, now Mathers has retired."

"And who did Lex replace Hough with? Someone that he chose?"

"Someone I chose!" Pete barked back.

"Off of Lex's list of potential appointees? Pete, you have to see how…"

Pete frowned. "Wortman was my choice because he was the most moderate of those on the list. Billingsly was Lex's choice to succeed Hough but instead, he was chosen to succeed Nedders," he interrupted. "Nedders was a right-wing ideologue and a crook." Lana reached over and placed her hand on Pete's forearm in an attempt to calm him.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, Pete," Clark said. "I simply want you to hear me out. What I'm telling you is not a theory; it's a fact."

"Then where's the proof, Clark?" Lana asked softly to diffuse the tension that had grown in the room. "We'll hear you out but there has to be some proof that there's a plot. What's the purpose of reshaping the court?"

Clark remained calm. "Lex will return to office at the end of this term. It's why he abruptly resigned. The 22nd Amendment allows him two terms but if he doesn't complete half of the first term, he can serve another two terms if elected." He looked at Pete. "He'll be re-elected because of the rising tensions with China, Pete. You're finishing the second half of his term doing his bidding. He'll return to office now that he'll have a favorable court and repeal the 22nd Amendment and put in place a 28th Amendment that sets no limit on the number of terms a President can have. Once he does that, he'll become a dictator for life." He stared intently at both of them. "Think about it Pete; three vacancies occur on the Supreme Court in two years? When has that ever happened?"

Pete had calmed down. Listening to Clark began peeling away the film that had built up over the last three years of campaigning and serving with Lex. This sounded like a plan Lex would pull off and he began to wonder if he was a pawn in Lex's game. "Okay Clark," he began. "Let's say for a second that I believe that Lex has some grand scheme to reshape the court. Why leave in the middle of his first term when he potentially had six more years?"

"He couldn't take the chance of not having a favorable court in place with enough time to get reelected and repeal the 22nd Amendment and replace it with the 28th Amendment. So he has you carrying his water for two years while laying the groundwork for his return." He paused. "Have you tried direct negotiations with China's Premiere or have you continued Lex's path of building public hostility towards the Chinese? What purpose does that serve if it doesn't build public support for an eventual war with China?" Clark looked to Lana for support.

"What would a 28th Amendment do, Clark?" she asked softly.

He took a deep breath. "It would not only repeal overturn the 22nd Amendment but it would give greater powers to the Executive Branch. Lex will use the crisis to convince the public that these measures are necessary to overcome resistance in Congress. With the Court in his pocket, Lex would have control of two branches of government and be virtually unstoppable."

"How do you know all this Clark?" Pete asked tersely.

"I had a visitor from the future," he replied. "The visitor warned me about this scheme."

Lana shifted in place. "But there still isn't any proof of a plot, Clark. I'm sure we'd feel better about the things you're saying if there was some evidence that Lex has done these things." She looked at Pete and then back to Clark. "I don't doubt that Lex has visions of being a President for life. I know him as well as anyone and I know that he would love nothing more than to manipulate every person and penny in this country for his own ends. But I also know that before we can go forward with anything, there has to be some evidence somewhere."

"There is evidence somewhere, Lana; I'm just not sure where it is right now. There are recordings that you will find later on once Lex returns to power and you two are returned to the Vice President's mansion. That will happen in about three or so years from now," he concluded.

"So what do these recordings reveal?" Pete asked skeptically.

"Lex ordering Justice Hough murdered," he replied, "and they will raise suspicions that somehow you knew, Pete. Lex has concealed them somewhere he knows you will eventually find them. It's his way of gauging your loyalty and how you will be on his ticket when he returns to run for another series of terms."

Lana looked at Pete and said, "Pete's no murderer nor would he ever be an accessory to murder. You know that, Clark."

"Of course I know that but by the time it's found, it will be too late, Pete. No one will be able to prove or disprove you knew but Lex will own you and it will end your marriage," Clark said, looking back at his oldest friend. "All I know is what happens if nothing changes." Pete sat stoically. "Pete, your loyalty is to the Presidency and the people of this country. I have faith in you that by knowing this now, you won't succumb to Lex's manipulation. I'm not here to accuse you of participating in his scheme; I just know that decisions you make out of loyalty to Lex end up favoring only Lex, not this country and not mankind. All I'm asking is to take a moment and think it through. Look for the evidence and when you find it, use it to stop Lex."

"And if I do, what happens then, Clark?" Pete replied pointedly. "Do I get dragged into the mud with him? Is my political career ruined; my marriage?"

Clark shook his head slowly. "I can't say because that future hasn't been written yet. What I will say is that I will support you any way that I can against allegations of collusion in Lex's scheme."

Pete sipped his coffee and looked at Lana. Slowly he nodded his head. "I'll take it into consideration, Clark," he said noncommittally. "If I happen to run across this evidence you say Lex planted, I'll put a little more faith in the things that you've said tonight."

Clark stood. "Thanks, Pete. I realize the way this sounds but we've known each other for a long time and you know that I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't certain. I know you'll do the right thing." Pete and Lana stood. Lana took her husband's hand. "I should be getting back now."

The two men shook hands and Lana hugged Clark again. "Next time," Pete began, "come back for a real visit, Clark. You and Lois are welcome here any time. You don't need to wait for an invitation."

"Yes," Lana agreed, "please come back soon," she smiled graciously. "We miss spending time with our old friends."

Clark smiled. "Your old friends miss you too."

Metroplis

June 16, 2021

Lois was waiting for Clark. It was nearly 11:00 PM before he returned but she couldn't sleep anticipating his report. Her stomach was in knots but the fact that he'd been gone for so long was a good sign, she believed. His story wasn't completely dismissed and maybe that was a good sign that Pete believed him. "How did it go?" she asked as he landed on the terrace.

"I can't say for certain. Pete's changed a lot since we were high school friends. But at least he heard me out." 

"Did he ask questions or did he just hear you out rather than throwing you out?"

"He listened and asked questions. I think at first he thought I was accusing him of either being a party to Lex's madness or being Lex's rube at his expense." He paused. "But after a while, I think some of what I told him sunk in. The Pete I knew would have immediately believed that all the strangeness that has happened was nothing more than Lex using those around him to gain some advantage."

"I hope he does something about it," she replied. Lois had hoped that Clark could convince Pete outright and that the whole idea of being a pawn in Lex's grand scheme would register with him immediately. The glimmer of doubt in Clark's voice worried her. "Tomorrow he's expected to announce a nominee to replace Justice Mathers. I guess we'll have to ask Lara if he chooses the same one. If he does then we'll know if anything will change in the future."

"But if Pete knows, he wouldn't go along with Lex's scheme. I just know he wouldn't," she pled.

"I didn't have any proof, Lois. How do you convince the President of the United States that he is being used without some proof? Pete's his own man now; he's the leader of our country. This isn't high school."

"But he knows you, Clark. He knows who and what you are and he knows that you wouldn't tell him that if it wasn't the truth." She took his hand and they walked into the bedroom. "I'm sure Pete will believe you."

"He also knows how I feel about Lex. So does Lana."

They began to change for bed. "But Lana also knows Lex all too well. I'm sure she believed you."

He finished getting undressed and climbed into bed next to Lois. "I think she believed me," he opined. "But I think she wanted to appear to support Pete, too. I can only have faith that between the two of them, Pete will make the right decisions."

Lois rolled over and lay partially across his bare chest and he wrapped his arms around her. She kissed him. "If he doesn't; then what will you do?"

"I don't know. We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it, Lois. For now, we'll just have to wait and see."

Lois lay silent for a few minutes. Both of them reflected on the monumental change in the course of human history that would unfold over the next day or so. "Clark; what will happen to Elle?"

"What do you mean?"

"If history changes, won't it affect her? I mean, won't her past change if something changes now?"

"As long as she wears the Legion ring, nothing will change for her. The ring insulates the wearer against changes in the past. As long as she wears it, she remains in her own timeline." He paused. "If Pete makes a change from the decisions he made in her timeline, she'll have to go back to the future and see what impact they had. The she can return and let us know if the future changed."

"So she won't be affected as long as she's wearing the ring."

"Right."

"I was afraid that a change would suddenly change her memory of the past; like in those movies."

"Which movies?"

"_The Butterfly Effect_. You remember; the movies about changing the past and causing a ripple effect in time."

He nodded absently. "One or two?"

"One," Lois replied. "It was the best one."

"Maybe," Clark answered. "The plot was better but I liked the second one too. The actress in the sequel was drop-dead gorgeous!" 

Washington, D.C.

June 17, 2021

It was just past midnight when Lana and Pete retired to bed. They had not spoken much since Clark left. Lana knew that her husband's silence meant that he was measuring Clark's warning. They lay together contemplating the words. Lana broke the silence. "We have some incredible friends, don't we?"

Pete nodded slowly. "We live in strange times, Lana."

"But you believe him, right?"

Pete didn't answer immediately and when he did, it sounded forced. "I do; I believe that he believes it but I'm trying to make sense of it. There are a lot of holes in his story."

"I know," Lana agreed. "But we also know he doesn't meddle, Honey. If Clark came here it's because he knows it's the truth." She stopped for a moment and then added, "You used to take him at his word; why are you hesitant now?"

After a few moments, Pete gave a measured response. "I have to think on my own now, Lana. We're not talking about reacting to some accusation against a meteor freak; he's accusing Lex of murder and plotting to basically rewrite the Constitution of the United States."

Lana brushed a lock of hair from her eyes. "It's Lex he's talking about. If it were anyone else, I'd have my doubts. But we both know what he's capable of and what would motivate Clark to lie about something like that, Pete?"

"He hates Lex. Who is to say he's not affected by some form of Kryptonite right now and that is driving him to make accusations? You know how unstable he can be when exposed to it." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I just have to make up my own mind."

Lana didn't immediately reply but rolled over to face him. "Are you at least going to look for the evidence he talked about? He said that Lex has left it somewhere that he knew you would find it."

"I don't have time to scour the White House for some evidence that may or may not exist, Lana." He struggled with a better response. "I want to believe him; I really do. As outlandish as it all sounds; it also sounds like something Lex might be up to."

She nodded. "What about the things he said about this plot ruining our marriage? A lot has happened in the last few months and I know it's strained our relationship." She reached over and touched his cheek. "I do love you and I don't want anything to come between us, Pete. Not the Presidency and certainly not Lex! Our marriage is more important to me than living in the White House; I hope you know that. This could all end tomorrow and I wouldn't care as long as we're together."

Pete nodded but said nothing more, instead contemplating the warning Clark had brought and wondering what his next more would be.

Just outside Metropolis

June 17, 2021

They had stayed up until the early hours of the night. Chloe shared stories of Elle's father and mother that she had never before heard. In her timeline, Chloe had become withdrawn and aloof, living a reclusive life raising a child from her brief marriage to Oliver Queen. Elle had last seen Chloe at her father's mock funeral and it was the first time in ten years that they had seen one another face-to-face. Chloe barely acknowledged Elle and instead simply paid a visit to the tomb of Superman and left.

The Chloe before her was not at all like the one she knew. This Chloe was still young, engaging and funny. She never asked Elle about the future, choosing instead to simply tell stories about Clark growing up in Smallville and how Lois had turned his life upside down. Before calling it a night, Elle purposely slipped a hint to the older cousin; something she had learned while growing up that Chloe would otherwise never learn.

"Emil Hamilton?" Chloe said with a surprised smile. Elle nodded, enjoying Chloe's whimsical expression. Still smiling, she cocked her head. "Really?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Washington, DC

June 17, 2021

President Pete Ross could not sleep; his mind would not let him. He lay in bed with Lana in the West Wing of the White House, mind racing with thoughts. His future in Washington, his duty to the country and the Presidency, the loyalty he felt to Lex, his insecurity in his relationship with Lana, and his conflicted feelings about Clark and the warning he brought all weighed heavily on his mind.

Clark was not a human but the most humane being he had ever known. Lana had said that there was a time when he would take Clark at his word; why wouldn't he now? That sentence rang in his head the loudest. Of all the words spoken last evening, those were the words that affected him the most.

He knew deep inside he believed every word Clark said. He knew Clark was telling them the truth and it was not at all difficult to believe the extent to which Lex would go to hold on to power. Pete had been blinded by ambition at some point and now he wondered if he had passed a point of no return. If he acted on Clark's warning, would he simply be bowing to Clark's pressure as opposed to Lex's? Should he go back to the fundamentally good and honest person he once had been; before he had been tempted and corrupted by the trappings of power?

He rolled and looked at Lana, sleeping soundly at his side. She was as beautiful now as she ever had been; maybe even more beautiful. She remained virtually ageless; her delicate and alluring features set in porcelain. He was lucky to have her; that much he knew. Why he had her was a question that may never be answered to his complete satisfaction. Was he truly the one she loved or would Clark always be her first choice and him the consolation prize? But did it matter, really? Whether a second choice or not, she was with him and he did love her; fiercely. His guarded feelings were his way of protecting himself against the knowledge that the woman he loved would prefer to be with Clark. Had he been fair with Lana? Was his insecurity creating strain on their marriage? She had told him that she loved him; why wasn't that enough? He reached over and softly touched her cheek, brushing strands of hair back. Looking at her angelic visage, he knew he was lucky and should accept it at that. She never gave him reason to doubt her love for him so why should he be worried about it? Why should he resist her urging to spend more time with Clark? He knew why: Clark was her first choice and seeing him was a constant reminder of that fact. But again, he asked himself, why should that matter? Clark had been his best, closest and oldest friend. Perhaps Lana's insistence that he spend more time with Clark was not so that she could him more often but because she knew that his oldest friend was a good influence on him. Pete knew it too.

Lex. There was a time he had hated Lex. But his one-time adversary had taken him under his wing and the result was now a position he never imagined he'd reach. He was the President of the United States because of Lex. Pete knew that Lex was a schemer; drunk with power at times but a functioning drunk; very effective and greatly admired by the citizens that put him in power. Lex Luthor had a public persona that was amazing. He could manipulate the masses with his words like no one had ever done in recent memory. He was also highly intelligent; a trait shared by most successful schemers. Could Lex have such an elaborate scheme and was Pete too blind, too dumb, or too unwilling to see it? Before leaving, Lex had 'strongly recommended' that he nominate Federal Court Judge Timberman to replace Mathers if the 88-year old justice retired during Pete's term as President. Timberman was a moderately activist federal appeals court judge rather than the strict Consitutionalist that Pete preferred. But he intended to nominate Timberman later in the day because this was Lex's administration, not his.

Clark had warned that Lex was reshaping the high court because he wanted to ensure its backing if there was a legal challenge to pursuing overturning the 22nd Amendment. He said that Lex had ordered the killing of Justice Hough. If all that was true, Pete wondered if he had the backbone to stand up to Lex or if he would bend to the pressure? Clark said he would discover evidence of Lex's plot but would he have the nerve to do what was right and seek justice against Lex? What would be the impact on his future in Washington? Lex had widespread support; he was admired by most and adored by many. Would he ultimately be the one that suffered most if he ordered the Attorney General to investigate and bring charges? Could Lex spin it to eventually discredit his former Vice President?

The questions swirled in his mind and would not allow him to sleep. He looked at the clock next to the bed. 2:38 AM. He gently rolled off the bed and left Lana asleep. He pulled on a robe, exited his bedroom and headed for his private library. Pete nodded to the Secret Service agent at the end of the hall and turned in to the library, his sanctuary when he had trouble sleeping. He went to his desk and opened his laptop, powered up and began surfing the net for editorials and political commentary about his Presidency and the tensions between the US and China.

After about thirty minutes of scanning and reading, his mind was still troubled. He needed to escape the world of politics and clear his mind. He searched the private server for videos. The small stand-alone server with no external access contained over three thousand movies, recorded television shows or sporting events that were available for the President to watch on a large screen hard wired to the dedicated server. It also contained home videos provided by the President and loaded by technicians onto the server. Pete scrolled through the listings and stopped at one that he had not watched in the past four years. It had been a Christmas gift from Lana back when they were dating. After watching it, Pete referred to it often during meetings with his constituents and during the campaign for his second term in the House of Representatives. He clicked on the title, sat back and began watching the 1939 Frank Caprio classic, 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'.

Pete nodded off to sleep in his chair before getting halfway through the movie. He awoke as the credits rolled and he reached for his laptop to cut off the movie and return to bed. But before he could stop the film, it abruptly ended and something else was spliced in. It was a video recording shot in the very library in which he sat. The video clearly showed Lex talking to a man whose back was to the concealed camera. The two talked in a form of code language, discussing the elimination of 'an obstacle' to legal challenges to laws Lex had approved. As the discussion continued, the name of 'Hough' slipped from the man facing Lex.

"I want him out of the way; gone," Lex told the man. "He has too much influence and too much time remaining. He will be a thorn in my side."

"Shall I make it look like an accident, Sir?"

"No. It has to be natural causes and it has to happen the second week of April, next year."

"Natural causes will be difficult to stage, Sir. There are so many tests available to the medical examiner these days that…"

Lex leaned forward with a threatening glare and interrupted in an ominous tone. "Get it done, Smith. You're being well-paid to find a way. The second week of April is still six months away. Get it done or you'll find yourself being examined by the medical examiner. Now leave!"

The man with his back to the camera rose and then stepped backwards. "Yes Sir," he said and by the time he to leave, his face was higher than the focus point of the camera.

In the video, Lex sat back and was appearing to ponder the scheme he was plotting. He pulled out his pocket computer, checked it and then rose and exited the frame. The video went dark and then the file name, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" appeared.

Pete played the short file four times. He paused the video and looked at the aiming point of the video camera. He moved to where he believed the hidden video camera would be located. After fifteen minutes, he located the pinhole video camera, embedded in the spine of an old book that was among hundreds in the private library. Pages had been hollowed out to fit the matchbook-sized recording unit and NiCad battery pack. The book sat on a thin plate that provided a continuous low-powered charge to the battery pack.

He pulled the recording unit out, found a USB port on it, and carried it back to his desk. Plugging it in to his laptop, Pete found hours of video to include Clark's visit. He replayed the visit, listening to Clark's words but focusing on Lana's facial expressions.

Satisfied that he could not detect anything other than friendly smiles and normal eye contact, he deleted the last 12 recorded hours and reset the date and time. He closed the book and put it in his desk drawer to record darkness until the batteries died.

He copied the movie with the spliced-in footage of Lex plotting onto a flash drive he found in the desk drawer and then closed his laptop. Pete returned to the bedroom, secured the flash drive in a personal safe and crawled back into bed with Lana.

Elle woke to the sound of Connor talking to his mother in the kitchen. She lay in bed, wondering what the day would bring. It was Thursday, June 17th and her father had visited with President Pete Ross the evening before.

Closing her eyes, she attempted to remember the events of her life and nothing seemed different than the day before. Her father had told her that she had to be careful visiting the past because interacting with those she knew could have a ripple effect. He told her that although her surroundings may be different once she returned to the future, she could experience dual memories once she removed the Legion Ring. Elle opened her eyes and looked at the ring on her finger and spun it on her finger. She toyed with the idea of removing it to see if she would suddenly experience a rush of memories she never previously had. However, in the end she decided not to remove the ring until she traveled back to her own timeline to assess the differences. Removing the ring now and then traveling back to the future could have a disorienting effect. She wanted to be able to report accurately.

Once Connor left the house to go to his private school, Elle rose and dressed. She greeted Chloe who was sitting at a table by the window, sipping coffee.

"Are you hungry?" Chloe asked.

Elle shrugged. "Not really. I could use a cup of coffee though."

Chloe pointed her to the cupboard where she kept her cups and Elle helped herself to the coffee. She poured herself a cup and sat with Chloe. "Feel anything different?"

"No," the young woman replied. "But father told me that I wouldn't as long as I wore the Legion Ring. Once I take it off, then I will know if anything has changed."

"Why not take it off and find out?" Chloe asked.

"Temporal disorientation," Elle replied. "If major changes occurred and I took the ring off now, I might have a problem returning to my own timeline and then returning to report what changes have occurred. It could be almost like a break from reality; never truly knowing which was real and which was not. That's why my father never traveled back in time even though he could have."

Chloe nodded silently and looked out the window for a few moments. She turned back and smiled. "So, Emil and I, huh? When?"

"Let's see," Elle said. "I was about 10 when that happened so in about eight years."

"I'll be 48?" She took a sip of her coffee. "That will be pretty late in life, huh?"

"Yes. But you two always seemed content with one another. Father said you two had a lot in common and spent a lot of time doing philanthropic work around the world." She paused and then added, "I guess that's why I never saw you very much. I really enjoyed getting to know you better last night though."

"Me too," Chloe replied. She wore a strange expression for a moment and then asked, "Do you think it would cause a rip in the temporal fabric if I didn't wait another 8 years to get close to Emil? I mean, we used to be very close and after Ollie and I married, the relationship I had with Emil sort of withered away. I know he's not married and I wonder if starting up earlier would do any harm?"

"Harm?" Elle said rhetorically. "I don't know if it would cause any harm. Since you two do all this philanthropic work together, maybe it would help others sooner." She took a swallow of coffee. "What about Oliver and Connor?"

"Emil has been friends with Ollie and Dinah for over a decade. I can't imagine how that would cause a strain. I don't think it would impact Connor much either. I'll always love his Dad and he knows that. Anyway, I'm just talking about dating for now." She looked down and then back up. "Emil's intelligence and dry wit always made him attractive to me. And with all he's accomplished, it's hard to believe he's only nine years older than I am."

Elle thought for a moment. "Why not wait until I travel back and find out what, if anything has changed. When I come back to tell Mother and Father about any possible change to the future, I'll come by and let you know as well."

"Fair enough," Chloe said. She leaned forward and in a conspiratorial tone said, "I hardly slept at all last night thinking about ending up with Emil. Weird, huh?"

"No!" Elle replied resolutely. "It's perfectly normal. I know what it's like wondering about that and how it can keep you awake." She paused. "If I knew who I was going to end up with, I probably would never have come back to talk to Mom in the first place."

A shadow crossed Chloe's face and she looked out the window. The silence grew awkward until she spoke. "You can't change the past, can you?"

She shook her head. "My father would not permit it. Even when he lost my mother, he wouldn't go back to change the past."

"But what do you think you are doing right now?"

Elle smiled. "Having coffee with you." She arched an eyebrow and before Chloe could protest, she continued. "I'm not changing anything; Father might but I won't. If Father changes things he's only affecting the future not the past."

"That's going to have an impact on you; you know that, right?" Chloe asked.

She nodded. "I hope it will be a positive one." Elle took a deep breath. "Coming back has allowed me to get to know my mother on an adult level. It makes not having her to talk with in my future even more painful to me and makes any risk to change that future even more worth taking."

Chloe smiled and nodded. "She's a pretty amazing lady." After pausing for a moment, she snickered and began, "You know, once your Mom and I were…" Chloe's cell phone rang and she grabbed it. Looking at the display, she quipped, "Speak of the devil!" She connected, "We were just talking about you."

"Chloe, ask Elle if she knows the name of the Supreme Court Justice that Pete nominated to replace Mathers."

"Your Mom wants to know if you know who President Ross nominated for the Supreme Court to fill Mathers' position."

Elle nodded. "Federal Court Judge Timberman," she replied and then added, "And the Senate confirmed him almost unanimously."

Once Chloe relayed the name and additional information, Lois thanked her cousin and disconnected. "Geez," she remarked. "Maybe I should turn on the news."

She touched a few keys on her phone and the large flat screen in the living room erupted into noisy reports from the White House where Pete Ross was expected to announce his nominee to fill Justice Mathers' position at any minute. The Washington Press Corps was seated and correspondents were quietly giving introductory remarks; most of them speculating on who the President would nominate.

The President's Press Secretary stepped to the podium and gave some brief introductory remarks and then introduced Pete Ross, President of the United States. Pete provided some brief context of the significance of appointments to the Supreme Court. He then shocked the room by saying that he was not prepared to nominate anyone for the position until he had completed some further vetting of a very short list of prospective nominees. He concluded by saying that he owed it to the American people to make a nomination that would best serve the country for years to come. With that, he left the podium without taking questions and was immediately replaced by his Press Secretary.

The White House Press Corps fired questions at the Press Secretary while other correspondents outside the White House followed up with summary statements.

"Wow!" Chloe remarked. "I never saw that coming. Usually Presidents don't call a press conference to announce they haven't made a decision." She chuckled and looked at Elle. "Did it originally go down that way?"

"I'm not sure," Elle replied. "All I know is that in my past, he nominated Justice Timberman for the seat. I don't know whether there was a delay or not."

Lois looked at Clark, who looked at Lois. He shrugged. "I'm taking it as a good sign. Pete's thinking about it."

"Let's hope so," Lois replied. "It's kind of unprecedented for a press conference to be called so a President can say he hasn't made a decision yet."

"Well, the press conference was already scheduled so maybe he felt like he had to go explain that it's a monumental decision for Presidents and vetting the nominees would take longer than he expected."

"You want to bet Pete is getting a call from a certain recuperating ex-President right about now?" Lois asked facetiously.

Clark smiled. "I wouldn't bet against it. In fact, I would guess that right about now Pete is…" Clark was interrupted by his desk phone ringing. He answered it and asked to hold for the President of the United States. Within seconds, Pete came on the line.

"Clark, if you have no other plans on Saturday, would you and Lois be free to meet us for breakfast at the White House? We need catch up," he paused and then continued, "and I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

Clark smiled. "Of course Mr. President; Lois and I would love to join you and the First Lady for breakfast on Saturday." He winked at Lois and she smiled.

"Great. We all have some catching up to do," Pete said. "It's been far too long."

"I couldn't agree more, Mr. President."

"The White House social secretary will provide you the details and information on getting through the Secret Service checkpoint. Thanks Clark. We both look forward to seeing you two Saturday morning." The phone went silent and Clark hung it up.

"It sounds like we have plans for Saturday."

She arched an eyebrow and grinned. "Perry is going to explode when I tell him."

"Lois," Clark replied, "we should probably keep this off the record. He invited us as friends; not reporters. I don't think Pete wants to do an interview."

She made a face. "An exclusive with the President and we're keeping it off the record; are you kidding me, Clark Kent?"

"I think Pete just wants to reconnect with friends, Lois. He's been surrounded by the Washington crowd and I think it's taken its toll on him. Remember what Lana told Lara; that she wished that Pete had spent more time with me? I think that's what's happening here and I don't think we should do anything to derail that." He paused and seeing her disappointed expression, he added, "I'm sure that you'll get your exclusive with him; just not this time, okay?"

June 19, 2021

Washington, DC

The breakfast was simple; the kind his Mom had made him growing up. There were no pretentious food preparations or presentations. It was a farm-style breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. There was fresh-squeezed orange juice and coffee. Pete and Lana were dressed casually; no suits, no ties, and no cocktail dresses. They greeted them warmly when they arrived and whisked them off to the West Wing to dine privately. The ease and familiarity of the breakfast reunion could have easily seemed like it was taking place at the Kent farm dining room if it hadn't been for the impressive surroundings.

They told stories, laughed, and reconnected – all of them. They were careful not to allude to Clark's secret nor discuss anything about their history with Lex or the scheme he devised. After finishing breakfast, Lana took Lois on a tour of the White House and Clark spoke with Pete as they strolled through the various hallways.

After three hours of catching up, the four of them rejoined in the private dining area where they had taken breakfast. Fresh coffee and light pastries had been served. The two couples sat across from each other while continuing to talk. After finishing his coffee, Clark suggested that Pete probably had other pressing issues to which he needed to attend. Pete nodded. "I have to figure out who I'm going to nominate for the Supreme Court vacancy."

"Off the record," Lois began with a grin, "Are you leaning toward anyone in particular?"

"Judge Timberman was initially my choice but on closer look, I think Judge Raymond Diaz from Arizona is probably a better candidate. He's a pretty strict constructionist which I think the bench lacks right now." He took a sip of coffee. "After vetting him thoroughly, I like his decisions a little more than Timberman; Timberman seems like he can be swayed a little too much." He winked at Clark. "But please, Lois; that is off the record."

"Of course; I'll let you make the announcement. I'll just wanted a jump on the competition; I'll have more research on him than anyone else," she added with a grin.

Clark stood. "On that note, I think we'll leave you to it, Pete." Lois rose as well. "It's really been great catching up and we really appreciate you taking the time to spend with us."

Pete and Lana rose as well. "It won't be the last time, Clark. Spending time with you two helps me stay grounded to where I came from and why I landed here in the first place." The four walked out to the portico where the car Clark had rented was parked. Hugs were exchanged and Lana disappeared inside the front door as Clark and Lois moved toward their car. She reappeared moments later and handed a book to Lois.

"This is for your trip back to Metropolis, Lois. I hope you'll find it as interesting as I did," she added. "There's an inscription on the inner cover."

Lois thanked Lana and hugged her one last time before Clark opened the door for her and she got into the car. Lana gave Clark a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I know how busy you can get so I appreciate you two coming." He moved to the driver side door and opened it.

"Next time," Pete called, "Bring your tennis shoes and we'll play some one-on-one. I'm still ahead in the total count." He grinned.

"You're on," Clark replied and disappeared inside the car. He drove off as Lois waved to their oldest friends.

"Wow," she exclaimed, "That was really nice. I mean, even being at the White House, it seemed pretty normal, you know?" Clark agreed. "I hope it's not the last time we're invited."

She fumbled with the book Lana had given her as Clark drove down Pennsylvania Avenue. She opened it and read the inscription from Lana out loud. '_To my dearest and most trusted friend_,' it began. The inscription went on to say that the book starts out a little slow but really gets interesting around the middle and has a really explosive ending. She made a face. "Explosive?" She thumbed through the pages. Halfway through, she found a carved out section of chapters that held a USB flash drive. "Oh my God," she exclaimed and held the flash drive up for Clark to see. "Do you think this is what I think it is?"

Clark had pulled to a stop at a red light and looked at the USB device. "I'm sure it is. Why else would it be there?"

Lois smiled. "I'm putting this puppy away," she said, replacing it in the book and closing the cover. "I can't wait to get home to see what's on it."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

June 19, 2021

Metropolis

"What the Hell?" Lois cried.

They had returned from Washington and their morning at the White House. Clark was in the bedroom changing his clothes but Lois headed straight for her laptop to view what was on the flash drive Lana had concealed inside the book. As 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' began to play, Lois was frustrated.

"What's the matter?" Clark called out.

"It's a movie on this thing; an old movie at that. I've seen it at least a dozen times."

Clark blurred into the living room to see. "Fast forward it. Maybe whatever is there is buried within the movie."

Lois clicked the fast forward to six times its normal speed and waited until the end. She slowed it to normal just as the screen faded to black and the credits began. She stopped it and checked the drive for additional files. "Nothing," she said, dejected. "Why in the world would Lana give me an old movie hidden in a book? It makes no sense."

"I don't know Lois," Clark said. "Maybe it's an audio file buried within the movie and you can't hear it if it's fast forwarded."

"She said the ending was explosive. It's a good movie but I think explosive is a reach," she grumbled. Using the chapter selector, she moved it to the final chapter of the recording and played it out at normal speed. When the screen faded, she stopped the movie. "There's nothing there."

"Maybe she snuck the wrong flash drive in there," he suggested. Lois gave him a skeptical look.

"I'm going to get changed," she announced, folding the top down on her laptop and heading into the bedroom.

"Okay," Clark replied. "I'll go get Lara."

"Which one?"

"Little Lara," he replied. "I'll stop by Chloe's place on the way and talk with Big Lara."

"Call her Elle. It's less confusing that way," Lois carped.

Clark disappeared leaving her more frustrated than ever. _It has a really explosive ending,_ Lana had written. "Oh God!" Lois exclaimed and rushed out to the living room in her bra and shorts she had pulled on. She yanked open the laptop again and as it booted up she slithered into a T-shirt. She began playing the movie, then moved to the main menu of the file and chose the final chapter. She fast forwarded it through the final chapter of the movie, slowing it as it reached the end. The screen faded to black and credits began to roll. After about thirty seconds of credits, the video jerked and shuttered and a new video featuring Lex Luthor appeared. Her breath caught in her chest as she watched the entire clip.

_Explosive is an understatement_, she thought. "This is Earth-shattering," she murmured. The video clip ended and she reversed the video to the splice and watched it again. "Oh my God," she exclaimed and a smile spread across her face. "I got him."

"I have faith that Pete will make the right choice," he told Chloe. "I'm pretty sure that he had some sort of epiphany and realized the road he was traveling down. That's a road Pete wouldn't travel if he wasn't being influenced by Lex." Chloe nodded her agreement. "My mom always told me how Washington changes people for the worst."

"It didn't change her," Chloe interjected.

"I think it had begun to," he replied, "and she realized it. That's why she never chose to pursue a second term. Mom always said power is more addictive than any drug and Washington was the one place where a very average person could end up with very extraordinary power. She told me that it happens so discreetly that at some point, you find that you don't control power; it controls you. I think that's when she realized it was time for her to end her political career."

"So you think that whatever Lana gave to Mother has some sort of encrypted file in it?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it. Lana didn't just give her an old movie to watch."

"Would you like me to take a look at it, Clark?" Chloe offered. "If I can't figure it out, maybe I could call Emil and see if he would take a look at it." She glanced at Elle and the two exchanged smirks that Clark didn't quite understand.

He frowned. "I don't want to get you wrapped up in it, Chloe; or Emil either. I appreciate the offer. I'll take it to Watchtower and I'll have J'onn see if there is a hidden file somewhere embedded in the movie file."

"Watchtower," Elle said. "I haven't heard that name for years." She looked at her father. "I never actually saw it when it was the central command post for the JL. Do you think I could visit it?"

Clark looked at Chloe and smiled. He pointed up at the ceiling. "Only if you can reach it," he said. "It's circling the planet in space; J'onn J'onzz mans it."

Elle jerked. "Oh, I know J'onn. He visited when we had your…uh," she looked down and then said, "Going-away ceremony. It's not there anymore."

"Wait! Going away ceremony?" Chloe cried with a puzzled look on her face. She looked at Clark. "Where do you go? And what happens to Watchtower? Oliver spent a billion dollars getting that up there." She looked back at Elle. "What's going on in the future that I should know about?"

"It's a long story, Chloe and it's nothing you need to know about because I'm pretty certain it has all changed. And hopefully," Clark added, "I won't be going anywhere for a long, long time."

"You better not," she admonished. "We need you right here."

"Anyway," he continued, "if you don't mind letting Lara spend the night here for a couple more days, it would sure help us out."

"Of course not," Chloe replied. "We were actually having a really nice time getting acquainted. I told her all about growing up with you." She smiled slyly and winked at Elle.

"Thanks…I think," he replied. "I have to go pick up little Lara now." He looked at Elle. "Come back to the apartment tomorrow after you wake up and we'll talk about the next step."

She nodded. "I will," she said and Clark vanished out the door and into the darkening Kansas sky.

Washington, D.C.

June 19, 2021

"That was nice today," Lana said as she slipped into her nightie and climbed into bed. "You're different when you're around old friends; not as buttoned-up."

Pete climbed into bed. "It's easier to be yourself when you're around old friends. There's no reason to put up any front because they see right through it."

"I suppose," she replied. "But you ought to be yourself more often; that's the Pete Ross people love. I understand that there's a certain decorum you must maintain as the President but that doesn't mean you can't let people know who the real Pete Ross is, Honey. It's the one we all love. We'll always know you're the President; make it your presidency by doing it your way. As much as you think people loved Lex, they'll love you more if you just be yourself more often."

Pete said nothing for a moment, weighing the things his wife told him. "Being around Clark and Lois; there's something about them that's…I don't know…reassuring. It's like you hide so many things about yourself and think it's a burden. Then you look at them and what they have to hide every second of the day and you realize that the things you keep hidden are nonsense compared to them. And they're happy, Lana…they really are. You can tell it. She lives to be there for him and he lives to be there for her…and everyone else, too. They're such an incredible team."

"We used to be an incredible team, Pete," Lana offered. "I think we're still a good team but we can get back to being an incredible team again." She paused. "The effect Clark has on you and how the two of them affect us; it's the reason I think you should extend invitations to them more often. He strengthens you and they strengthen us."

He rolled over and wrapped an arm around Lana, pulling her toward him. "I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?"

Pete took a deep breath. "For questioning your motives for having Clark come here. I…"

"You don't have to apologize, Pete. I realize that you watched the saga between us for 8 years and…"

"And it's over," he interrupted. "It's over and you've both moved on; that much was clear today. He's obviously happy and I'm thankful you came to me. And I owe you an apology for suspecting you."

She lurched forward and kissed Pete passionately. "I'll always love Clark in a special way but I'm in love with you, Pete Ross." She rolled on top of him and laid her head next to his. "I can't imagine a day will come when I'm not; at least as long as you're the Pete Ross that's here right now, the man who made me forget Superman," she whispered.

They made love; passionately and desperately. On that night they reaffirmed their love for one another and created more than just a lasting bond between them; they created their first and only child. When they finished they lay in a heap of twisted and damp sheets, both glistening and exhausted. It was nearly five minutes before either spoke and it was Pete who spoke first. "We haven't made love like that for a long time, Lana. We need to do that more often. I feel like I'm a better man – a better husband – to you when we make love like that."

Lana had rolled off Pete, sated and weakened from the torrid lovemaking but feeling more alive than she had felt in years. "And I feel like a better wife and partner to you at times like this. I never feel closer to you than when we let ourselves go like that. It's so intimate; so personal."

They lay in silence for a while longer, both measuring the bond that had been strengthened and satisfied that no matter what, they could still incite passion in their partner.

Pete's mind began to wander back to the morning. "I hope that Lois is careful with that information; I couldn't live with myself if something happened to her because she had it."

"Lois is a smart woman and tough. She'll know what to do with it and she has the best bodyguard in the world looking after her. Nothing is going to happen."

He rolled to his and lightly caressed her bare thigh and hip with the tips of his fingers, sending chills of excitement through her. "Lex will target her; you know that, right? Maybe I should have just given it to the Attorney General but I don't trust him. Lex had him in his pocket and I'm worried he still does."

"No; you did the right thing by letting me give it to Lois. Why not ask for the Attorney General's resignation and appoint someone you do trust?"

Pete lay looking at his stunning wife and smiled. "Why not indeed!"

Metropolis

June 23, 2021

The flat screen monitor in the newsroom had live coverage by WGBS of the Presidential press conference. Introductory remarks were made by the President's Press Secretary, followed by President Pete Ross announcing that he was putting Federal Judge Raymond Diaz's name in nomination for the Supreme Court vacancy. He followed his nomination with a surprise announcement that Attorney General Justin Peaks had submitted his resignation and that he was appointing Kansas State Attorney Stephen Nielsen as Attorney General and the nation's 'top cop' for the remainder of his administration. He also announced that he was assembling a new team of administration officials to work with Chinese officials in an effort to diffuse the tension that had risen between the two nations over the last few years.

"Jesus!" Lois exclaimed, eyes glued to the monitor. "He's really cleaning house over there."

Smiling, Clark nodded his agreement. "That's the Pete who can make a difference in Washington," he said. "Those are the actions that can change the course of history, too."

She jerked her head toward Clark. "I hope you're right." She chewed her bottom lip. "I guess time will tell."

They arrived home later that day to the aroma of fresh-baked cookies and to find Elle sitting with Martha on the couch watching Lara play. When they came through the door, Lara stood up and ran to them. Lois bent down and scooped her up, giving her a kiss on the cheek and then leaning her over to Clark. He took her, held her up to the ceiling at arm's length. Lara squealed with delight and he pulled her in, giving her a loud kiss. He put her down and she ran back over to Martha.

"Clark Joseph Kent; you didn't tell me you had a visitor," she scolded. "How come I'm the last to know?"

Lois looked at Clark and made a face. "I didn't want to confuse you, Mom," Clark replied.

"Confuse me?" Martha asked, exasperated. "You mean like when you were affected by Red Kryptonite back in high school and ran off to Metropolis for the summer? Or like when you were hit with Black Kryptonite a few years ago and there were two of you around only one wasn't very pleasant? Or maybe you mean like when that ridiculous mirror box was found about thirteen years ago and the Clark from the other dimension was here and you were there?" Martha clucked. "Since when have the bizarre events surrounding you confused me?" She shook her head and then looked at Elle who was grinning. "We've had the most wonderful afternoon. She looks just like you, Sweetheart," she added, looking at Lois.

Smiling, she replied, "She does, except for those gorgeous blue eyes. What I wouldn't give to have eyes like that! When did you arrive?" Lois asked Elle.

"About two hours ago," she said adding, "and I don't think I've stopped eating since I got here."

"Have you seen the news?" Clark asked, putting Lara down.

Elle nodded. "Yes. Chloe had it on when the press conference was held. President Ross has made some decisions that he didn't make in my history."

"I think they're pretty significant changes and I think it's time that you return to your continuity and see what impact they've had." He paused and then added, "When you have had a chance to assess the impact, come back."

She reluctantly nodded. "What if my father in the future won't allow me to return? He was pretty adamant that if I returned to the past that I not have much interaction with anyone other than Mother."

"It will be me; I'll remember that you visited and went to the future to assess. Just remember; don't take off the ring until you come back. If you do, all the memories of the changed life will flood in and you could be disoriented." He took her by the shoulders. "Lara, as long as you wear the ring, you'll be immune to the memories. If everything has changed and the future your mother told you about is on track, just return and let us know. Then you can return to your present life and once you take the ring off, all the memories of a different history will come to you and the ones you have now will be like a bad dream. You'll remember both but the ones in the altered future will be the ones most vivid."

"Okay," Elle said. "When you take Grandma home, I'll go back."

"Well at least have another slice of pie," Martha said. "You don't want to go back on a half-empty stomach." Lois burst into laughter. "What?" she asked, puzzled by her daughter-in-law's reaction.

"When did anyone ever leave your presence with a half-empty stomach, Mom?"

"Well," Martha replied sheepishly, "She's a young girl, Honey. She probably metabolizes food faster than you or Clark do." 

"Faster than Lois?" Clark asked. "That's not possible."

"To be perfectly honest," Elle interjected, "I could handle another piece of pie before I leave." Martha smiled smugly at Lois and Clark.

They all sat down and watched Elle consume what had to be her third slice of pie and Lois joined her. Clark had a slice as well with a glass of milk. When he finished, he looked at Martha. "Are you ready to go home, Mom?" She nodded.

Elle stood up and hugged Martha. "I loved getting the chance to see you again," she said. "When I come back, I'll be sure to stop by Smallville and see you, Grandma."

Martha's eyes grew watery. "You better," she admonished, realizing that when Elle went back to her own timeline, hugging her grandmother would no longer be possible. "I'll have something special for you if your father or mother lets me know when you're back."

Lois held up her hands in a defensive manner. "Hey, it won't be me who drops the ball like someone else did this time," she said with a smirk, looking at Clark who rolled his eyes.

Martha left with Clark and Lois hugged Elle. "I look forward to hearing back. I hope your future is the one I was told about, Sweetheart."

"Me too, Mom," she whispered. "It's what I've always wished for." When Lois let Elle go, there were tears in her eyes. "It's okay, Mom," Elle reassured. "No matter what, I'll be back and it will be soon."

Choked up, Lois nodded and forced a brave smile. "Go on," she croaked.

Elle walked past little Lara, patted her on the head and then blurred out onto the terrace and rocketed up into the darkening Metropolis sky. Lara stood and watched silently, then turned and padded over to Lois.

May 23, 2042

Metropolis

She flew in high and late in the evening over the Metropolis skies. At first, all appeared the same as when she'd left her timeline and the thought bothered her. Hovering high overhead, she took a closer look and soon saw that things were not entirely the same. People on the street and in vehicles moved more passively. There seemed to be a calmer and more uniform movement by the masses. She heard the occasional beep of a horn but not and angry horns blaring; no frustrated shouting between drivers and pedestrians. Before she had left, every Friday night was a scene of controlled pandemonium in Metropolis as revelers and late shift workers clashed in a frenetic mob of people, cars and taxis.

Something had changed and she immediately presumed the behavior she observed was that of the more peaceful and respectful civilization of which her mother had spoken. Elle tingled with anticipation; such orderly and courteous decorum must surely be the result of the change that occurred in the past. They had discovered where the divergence had occurred and they had changed the future for the better. What she observed surely portended a future that included her mother and father living the remarkable life they were destined to lead.

Full of hope, Elle drifted slowly to her parents' apartment, softly landing on the darkened terrace in the relative silence of late night Metropolis. The apartment was dark and she scanned the interior finding a couple, her parents, sleeping side-by-side in bed. The rest of the apartment was vacant and Elle slipped in through the unlocked terrace doors. She floated into her old room and quietly lay in her old bed. Everything felt so familiar and so right that it forced a smile onto her face and tears to form in her eyes. The future had changed and she would sleep the night and complete her assessment in the morning. With any luck, she would be back in the very bed in which she now lay the following night without the burden of having to exist in a fractured future. She lay planning her next day's activities until sleep overtook her.

She slept a sound, dreamless sleep and was awakened by a riveting pain coursing through her. Waves of excruciating pain stifled her speech, reducing her to labored grunts. Curling into a fetal position, she glimpsed the image of a woman, vaguely illuminated by the ambient city lights leaking through the cracks in the drapes which hung in her room.

"I've got her!" the woman called out. "Call the police…hurry!"

Elle squeezed her eyes shut, pulling her knees into her chest in a futile effort to combat the agonizing pain. She felt as though she would lose consciousness at any moment but the immobilizing pain prevented any such relief.

"Are you sure it's her?" a familiar voice replied from the other room.

"Yes! Now make the call. Hurry up!"

"Not until I'm sure," he replied. "We have to be sure."

"Honey, I'm telling you; it's her. Call the police, Clark!" she implored.

The woman's voice was also familiar but it wasn't her mother's voice. It was the voice of Lana Lang-Ross. Elle could not understand why Lana was in the apartment at that moment or why her mother wasn't coming to her aid. The exquisite pain that was sapping the life from her was far more demanding of her focus. With all the strength she could muster, Elle shrieked, "Father; help me!"

"Close it!" Clark ordered and Lana stepped back but did not close the lid to a lead-covered box that contained a large chunk of kryptonite. "Lana; close it so I can check."

"You know what happened last time, Clark," she warned.

"I'll be ready," he assured her and Lana begrudgingly lowered the lid to the box and it provided instant relief to Elle.

Elle remained balled up with her knees drawn tightly to her chest as Clark flipped on the light and entered the room. "Lara?" he asked.

"Father!" she replied. "What…why are…what's happening?" she managed as she relaxed, sapped of her strength.

As Elle relaxed, he saw the Legion Ring on her finger. Clark quickly moved to his daughter's side as Lana reminded him to be careful. "Is it you, Lara?"

She reached out and took his hand. Lana stiffened and moved from the door to the foot of the bed; box held at the ready. "Of course it's me, Father," she replied, gradually regaining her strength and relaxing. "Why don't you recognize me? What's happened?"

"It's okay, Lana; it's her. There is no question about it," he assured her, adding a nod and Lana relaxed but refused to put the box down.

"Father, what is Mrs. Ross you doing here?"

"She lives here; don't you know that?" Clark asked.

"No," Elle replied forcefully, "I don't know that. What about Mother?"

Clark's eyes saddened visibly. "Lara; your mother died a long time ago." He smoothed her hair back from her moistened brow. "You don't remember though, do you?" he asked, taking her hand and rubbing his thumb across the Legion Ring. "You are from a different time; right?" She nodded as tears of frustration filled her eyes. "Your mother died shortly after you turned three, Lara."

"How?" she asked with a quivering voice; shocked as much as saddened by the revelation.

"She was murdered, Lara," Lana replied; signifying that even now it was too difficult for Clark to talk about. "Right after she went to prison, she was killed by a group of inmates."

She looked back at her father. "Where were you? How come you didn't…," her voice trailed off certain that her father was filled with guilt already and any accusation would cause him greater grief. "I mean, why was she in jail?"

"Lara," Clark began. "Let's go into the dining room so we can talk." He turned to Lana. "Would you make some coffee for all of us?"

"Of course, Honey," she replied and exited the room, carrying the box with her.

Clark remained at Elle's side, kneeling. "There is a lot to tell you, Lara. I remember your other history. You told it to me about 21 years ago. I know why you're here now and I know what you're here to do. You have to go back and let your mother and I know what this future is like if they continue on the path they're headed down. It's far worse than your future and clearly not the future your mother once told us both about." He stood, taking her hand in his to help her out of the bed. "Take it slowly, Lara," Clark instructed, "You got quite a dose of kryptonite. You're going to feel a little weak for a while."

Elle stood and felt wobbly; washed out. Clark steadied her. "Father; if you knew I would be coming, why did you two react like that? What was Lana afraid of and why was she telling you to call the police?"

Clark's brow furrowed. "It's a long story and I'll explain it all over some coffee, Lara," he began. "But to answer your question, we were afraid it was Elle; your other half."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Metropolis

June 25, 2021

"Great Caesar's Ghost, Lane! Where did you come up with that?" Perry growled, leaning back in his leather-bound executive chair. "You'll start a firestorm with it if you aren't careful and unless you have a corroborating source there's no way in Hell I'm going to let that run."

Lois set her jaw. She had anticipated a fight with Perry. He wasn't a man to shy away from controversy and break conventions with his fellow journalists and editors but he was old school on certain things. In today's media when accuracy and intellectual honesty took a distant back seat to being first to break a story, Perry stood firm on his principles. No story this explosive would be published without at least one source willing to go on the record. She knew it would jeopardize their standing and perhaps more if she couldn't get a source to go on the record. There's no way in the world she was going to ask Lana to go on the record; that was just out of the question.

"Besides," Perry added, "this belongs in the hands of the Justice Department; not the Daily Planet!"

"C'mon, Perry," she battled back, "I have a White House source. I got it from that source."

"Who is it?"

Lois swallowed. "Deep throat."

He looked exasperated. "Deep throat's dead."

"Hey; that was good enough to bring down a sitting President. We're talking an ex-President, Chief. He's a private citizen now and…"

"Lane!" he barked. "A source…a named source! Without it, you're not running the story. There's no providence for the video clip; who's to say it's authentic? I'm not going to risk the reputation of this newspaper by running some sensationalized piece that has only a reporter's word of being authentic."

"Suppose we could authenticate the origin of the video somehow. Would that be enough?"

"No."

"Damnit Perry! You've run with stories before that had no more corroboration that this one. Why are you digging your heels on this one?"

Her editor-in-chief leaned forward across his large walnut desk with the Metropolis skyline as his backdrop. His tone softened. He dropped the bluster that they both knew was actually the game they played with one another, implying the seriousness of his decision. "We're not talking about some city maintenance supervisor spending his afternoons on the clock at a strip bar, Lois; we're talking about Lex Luthor…a former President…being accused of ordering the murder of a sitting Supreme Court justice. The stakes are just a wee bit higher, don't you think?" Lois said nothing, which spoke volumes. "We can't go into this with unnamed sources and shadowy figures. Luthor's lawyers would eat us alive."

"Okay, Chief," she replied dejectedly.

Perry cocked his head. "What…that's it? You're done arguing with me about this? That's all you've got?"

"Let's just say I don't feel like tempting fate, Perry."

He frowned, not sure of what she was implying. He studied her for a moment and then leaned back in his chair. "You need at least one credible source, Lois," he said, pointing at the laptop screen, "and we need that authenticated." Perry punched a button on his desk phone.

"Yes Chief," Jimmy answered.

"Olsen; do you have the ability to authenticate a video?"

There was a pause. "I don't know, Chief. It depends on…"

"You don't know?" Perry bellowed. "Olsen; why am I paying you when I should have you arrested for loitering? Get up to my office…now!"

"Yes, Chief," Jimmy stuttered. "I'm on the way." Lois fought back a smile.

"And don't call me, 'Chief'," Perry boomed. He leaned forward again and returned to his conciliatory tone. "We have to be careful with this, Lois. I believe you and I know you got it from a solid source. But my opinion doesn't count in a court of law or in the court of public opinion. This is too potentially dangerous to be cutting corners on."

"But Chief," Lois began.

"No 'buts', Lois." He stared at her with an intensity that she had only seen once before; that was after reading her first exclusive interview with Superman. "This is too important."

She resigned herself to the fact that Perry wasn't going to budge on his position and secretly, she knew from the beginning that he would react this way. But Lois wanted to share the video and story with him. Because of her knowledge of the future, if something happened to her she wanted this story in his hands. Until Elle returned and told her that the future was secure, she wasn't going to take any chances with the evidence. "Okay, Perry," she conceded. "I'll try to find a way to get this corroborated."

"That's the Lane I know. You have that saved to your laptop?" he asked and she nodded. "Then let me keep this," he said, pulling the flash drive from the laptop. He rose and went to a wall safe, opened it and placed it inside. He closed the safe, spun the dial and returned to his chair. "You protect that laptop. Keep it in your possession at all times," he admonished. "No one else sees this story or video," he ordered. "Especially not Olsen! I don't want him put at risk by seeing it."

"Agreed," she replied.

"What about Clark? Does he know about it?"

She nodded. "Of course, Perry," she replied, taking the laptop from the desk and closing the top. "We share everything; we don't hide stories from each other. It's not like we have to worry about the other stealing stories," she added.

He donned a look of skepticism at her reply. "It isn't?"

Lois turned red-faced. "Well, not lately," she corrected. "I haven't stolen a story from him for…I don't know, maybe since about…"

"Six weeks ago?" Perry finished with a raised eyebrow. Lois rolled her eyes upward, rocked her head back and forth and then grimaced. Perry smirked. "You don't think I knew?"

She winced. "Well actually, that story was more of a collaboration, Chief," she offered. "It wasn't like I outright stole it from him."

"Really? Then why did I get the same piece from him about six hours after I read and approved yours…and why wasn't his name on the by line, too?"

A sheepish smile flashed across her face and Perry broke into a laugh. "I don't know how he puts up with you, Lane."

"He can't live without me, Chief," she countered.

"Or you without him," Perry added. "Speaking of which, where is he today? I haven't seen him around."

"He's out checking on a tip about something happening in Las Vegas."

"Las Vegas!" he roared. "He better not have traveled out to Las Vegas without my approving the trip. We have a tight budget to maintain."

She shook her head. "Of course not, Perry," she reassured. "He didn't travel to Vegas. Whoever he's seeing, he'll be back sometime this afternoon."

Perry relaxed. "So, there's a story brewing in Vegas and you don't know about it?" Perry asked. "What happened to sharing all your stories with each other?" he asked facetiously.

She bit her lower lip. "Let's just say it's still in development."

"So in other words, you don't think it's a good story."

She shrugged and scrunched up her face. "It's Vegas," she exclaimed matter-of-factly. "What can happen in Vegas nowadays that's headline material anymore? Anyway, I think it has to do with…"

Her explanation was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," Perry barked.

Jimmy opened the door and meekly walked in. "You wanted to see me, Chief?"

Perry scowled. "Olsen…" he began in a gruff, annoyed tone.

Lois jumped up. "I got this, Chief," she interrupted and swiveled around on her heel, hooking Jimmy's arm in the crook of hers. "C'mon Jimbo," she said, pulling him backward toward the door. "I'll let you know as soon as I find something out, Perry," she called as they exited the office.

Seattle

June 25, 2021

It was overcast and cool; not unusual for Seattle. It had rained earlier in the morning and the gray sky was burdened with rain-laden clouds that threatened to unleash a deluge at any moment.

J'onn J'onzz led the impromptu meeting, held in the basement of an unremarkable flower shop nestled in a decidedly middle-class corner of the city. The store, Sherwood Florist, was one of hundreds of diverse holdings owned by Queen Industries. Over a short period of time, the basement had been transformed into a satellite headquarters for the JL. Not every JL member could travel at the speed of light and having a west coast office made convening an emergency meeting more practical. There were other satellite headquarters located around the world, allowing members quick access to a meeting point.

As usual, they had arrived under the cover of darkness in the early hours of the morning to protect their identities. They entered through a delivery door in the back of the store and accessed the basement though what appeared to be a mop closet.

Dinah managed the store above. Since the tragic death of her mother over a year ago, she had resigned from the Justice League and spent her days creating floral arrangements for customers, bringing joy to many and absolution for a few. She counted herself among the latter group.

"I first detected the boom tube a year ago," J'onn explained. "It rarely stays open very long, signifying only limited travel. What is unclear is whether minions of Darkseid are coming or going. There's just no way to tell. The speed with which these portals open and close make it difficult to gauge their point of origin. Even with the sophisticated monitoring equipment in Watchtower I can't get a fix on the point of origin." He looked at Bruce Wayne. "Bruce may have unraveled the mystery of what's happening."

"But you're sure they're boom tubes, J'onn?" Oliver asked.

"Yes. At first, I thought the event was an anomaly; a portal accidentally activated that either was a residual effect of Darkseid's last expedition 11 years ago or simply misdirected."

Clark spoke. "He does nothing by accident. If Darkseid is involved, it's no mistake."

"That's just it," J'onn replied. "Until recently, there was no indication that it was Darkseid. Bruce found out that Granny Goodness is operating a home for unwed mothers in Nevada. And although she fell out of favor after Darkseid's defeat, there's no reason to believe that she hasn't regained at least some of her influence or status with him."

"So you believe that he's depositing his minions on Earth slowly," Hal Jordan clarified. He looked at Clark.

"Darkseid is immortal," Clark began. "He may have a timeline but time means nothing to him. He'll take as much time as he thinks is needed to reach a tipping point. And as we learned last time, his plans are often difficult to decipher because he never attacks head on."

"That's exactly right," J'onn agreed. "He's an unparalleled strategist."

"Is it possible that what's going on in Las Vegas has anything to do with the deteriorating relations between the United States and China?" Bart asked.

Clark shook his head. "That's doubtful, Bart. While I wouldn't rule anything out when it came to Darkseid, I know Lex. He's not interested in sharing and he won't make the same mistake that Lionel made. He'd fight Darkseid along side of us before he'd join him. Lex wants the entire world to himself and even if Darkseid promised him the world, Lex would see through it." He looked at Bruce. "The deterioration of relations with China was all Lex's doing."

"Then what's the plan for Las Vegas?" Shayera Hol asked. "Is this fight club that has sprung up a global threat or is it something that is simply a recruiting point?"

"The intelligence I developed is that Intergang is operating it. Granny may be working with them and bringing in Furies. She is using a home for unwed mothers as a front for recruiting a new batch of Furies. It's no home; it's a brothel and the girls aren't pregnant. They are prostitutes being trained in martial arts," Bruce replied.

"What's the purpose of the fight club then? Granny doesn't need to run a club." Diana Prince asked.

"My intelligence says Intergang is running the club. Granny is simply providing the talent," Bruce answered.

"Is it possible that they are simply staging on Earth and not planning any assault on it?" Diana asked.

"Sure," J'onn replied. "We know now that Granny is probably recruiting Furies from prostitutes on Earth. This may just be a remote training center; part of Granny's plan to get back in Darkseid's good graces."

"What difference would it make anyway? We have to put an end to it," Oliver offered.

"But there's Intergang involvement," Hal Jordan pointed out. "That makes it hard to imagine that there isn't some plot involving Earth."

"It's a money-generating enterprise," Bruce interjected. "At its core, Intergang is organized crime. It may be highly sophisticated but it's still just a criminal organization. Mannheim isn't exactly a rocket scientist. He's dangerous; he's deadly; but he also trends toward the stupid end of the mastermind scale. If a buck can be made, Mannheim will worm his way in to get his piece of the pie. And by doing so, he'd deflect attention from Granny and her Furies." Oliver grinned. "So there's no assurance that this enterprise has any involvement with a plot against Earth."

"So how do we proceed, Clark?" Shayera asked.

Clark thought for a moment. "We need facts. For the next two weeks," he began, "we should closely monitor what's happening and try to determine what their intentions are. Once we know, then we won't be surprised.

"J'onn; you monitor any boom tubes or other portals that may be opened in the vicinity of Las Vegas. For the next two weeks, focus solely on the West so Watchtower can accurately determine the origin of the boom tubes." J'onn nodded.

"Bart; you remain in constant contact with J'onn and remain in the vicinity of the Nevada – Utah border. When J'onn detects a portal opening, you be on the ground before it closes."

"Shayera; you and Diana head to Las Vegas. Locate and infiltrate Granny's home. If she's recruiting Furies, you two will get a tryout pretty quickly. At least one of you needs to report back here two weeks from tomorrow. Civilian clothes, obviously." Diana nodded, smiled and looked at Shayera who gave her a thumbs-up.

"Bruce; can you and Hal go to the fight club a couple nights and see what's going on there?" Clark asked.

"Sure," Bruce replied. "Word has it that it caters to big spenders. I qualify."

"Well I don't," Hal replied. "I'd be happy to go but I'm not a billionaire industrialist."

"You will be," Bruce answered.

"What about me?" Oliver asked. "I qualify too."

"Not at this point, Ollie," Clark replied. "You're too well-known to Granny and the others. Granny knows you by sight. People know you're Green Arrow. Even if she doesn't see you, there's no telling if DeSaad and Godfrey are lurking around there. If we take direct action, you'll be included."

"You can foot the bill for Hal if you want," Bruce growled and everyone chuckled.

"Any questions?" Clark asked. No one replied. "I don't have to remind you that this is dangerous." He looked at Shayera and Diana who had moved together. "That's especially true for the two of you. Furies are not to be taken lightly."

"You need not worry about us, Clark," Diana replied. "We're not to be trifled with either. It's the Furies who need to be worried."

"Go easy on them," Clark replied with a smile. "The human ones are probably just under Granny's mind-control. Once it's broken, they won't pose a threat to the rest of us." He paused and looked at everyone. "All right. Unless assembled sooner, plan to meet back here two weeks from tomorrow."

The group all agreed and bid farewell to one another before leaving individually so as not to attract attention. Clark grabbed Bruce by the arm before he departed and Oliver, witnessing it, hung back as well.

"I need to tell you something…Oliver, you as well," Clark said. "Lois and I have had an interesting visitor stopping in the past few weeks."

"A visitor? Doesn't that make your non-paying job a little more complicated?" Bruce asked with a half grin.

"Not this one," Clark replied. "We've had a visitor from the future; Lara."

"Wait," Oliver interrupted. "Your daughter Lara?"

Nodding, he continued. "Yes, our daughter from 21 years into the future. And the future didn't look very bright." He recounted the future that Elle told them about; the future that they were headed for had changes not been made to stop the direction it was headed. Bruce winced and Oliver's eyes grew glassy and he swallowed hard when Clark told them about Lois death.

"Sorry," he said, voice cracking a little. He cleared his throat and continued. "That's not something that I even want to imagine. She's always been as special to me as she is to you Clark. She saved me because she cared about me at a time when I made it hard for anyone to care about me. But she did. Her friendship has been as important to me as her bond to you has been and I never want to think about her dying…particularly that young."

Clark put his hand on Oliver's shoulder. "It's okay, Oliver. I think she's going to be all right now. She was killed just hours after evidence was passed to her by Lana; evidence that implicated Lex in the murder of Justice Hough."

"But Hough died of natural causes," Bruce said.

"So says the medical examiner for Washington, D.C. The video clip is from a concealed camera in the private library of the West Wing. I've been in that room twice in the last week. Lex orders someone to kill Justice Hough and to make it look like natural causes." He paused to let the image settle in their minds. "Anyway," he continued. "Because of her death, I eventually left Earth after Lara turned 23. I had lost faith in mankind. The JL fell apart; everyone was off on their own."

"Why did she come back to tell you this, Clark," Oliver asked.

"She didn't. She came back to talk to Lois about a man she's in love with." He smiled. "She needed to talk to her mom." He frowned. "I haven't even asked her about the man."

"Is he in for a surprise," Oliver quipped. "He's probably thinking 'shotgun' but instead is going to end up with the Man of Steel staring at him." Clark grinned.

"But you said things have changed. What were they?" Bruce asked.

"Pete Ross changed. You noticed the announcements he made this week; Lois and I were at the White House having breakfast with Lana and him. That's when Lana passed the video file to Lois. I had visited them the night before he held the press conference and never announced his nominee for Justice Mathers' seat on the Supreme Court. Lex had a plan to fill the court with enough justices to secure any decision he needed from them. Then, he was going to challenge the 22nd Amendment and secure his Presidency for life.

"Pete was going to nominate a judge that was under Lex's control. Apparently my visit changed his mind and the night before the announcement, he stumbled across the video clip of Lex ordering the murder of Justice Hough. He knew then that the things I had told them were true."

"How did Lara learn all this?"

"She visited Lana when she returned to her own timeline. Lana told her everything." The two men nodded. "But all of that has changed and Pete has apparently had a change of heart. Rather than following Lex's lead, he's following his own moral compass. That's why I think everything is going to be fine."

"You don't know for sure though, do you?" Oliver said.

"No. Lara went back to the future to assess it. She'll return and let us know." He paused. "The reason I told you this is because there are forces at work here that we have to keep an eye out for. I'm obviously concerned about leaving Lois alone until we know for certain that the future she experienced has changed."

"I don't blame you," Bruce said. "It's important you stay with her, Clark. You can't let something happen to her; particularly now that you know what the result will be. Mankind needs you." He looked at Oliver. "We'll keep our focus broader until you tell us she's in the clear."

Oliver nodded firmly. "We'll examine all angles as things unfold." He grabbed Clark's arm and stared at him. "Thanks for letting us know, Clark."

Metropolis

May 23, 2042

Elle made a face. "My other half? What does that mean?"

"I'll explain it all but you have to hear it from the beginning for it to make sense," he replied somberly. "Let's go out to the dining room table so I can start from the beginning - when you left 21 years ago."

Clark led her out of the room and as Elle followed, she wobbled and steadied herself on the door jamb. "Whoa!" she muttered.

"Are you okay, Lara?" he asked, eyes filled with concern.

"You're right about that dose of kryptonite. I feel really light-headed and weak. I've never been exposed for that long and that close."

Clark put his arm around her. "Well, we're sorry we had to do that. It won't kill you, Lara; that's the advantage you have being part human. But you won't recover as quickly either."

"Father," she began, "you're much stronger than I am. Why did Lana even bother with the kryptonite? Why didn't you just restrain me?"

"I used to be stronger than I am now," he said, dropping his eyes. "That was before I lost all of my powers."

******** To Be Continued ********

Read the conclusion of this saga in the final story_, __**Convergence**__. _

_The first chapter of __**Convergence**__ will be published one week from the date this final chapter was posted._


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